A Study of Venus: Silver Millennium
by Iryl
Summary: Venus doesn't have time for a life. She's too busy doing her job. So how can a man fit into her plans for a perfect existence protecting her princess and the Silver Millennium? Even a man off the Prince's guard. . . . [Now With Bloopers]
1. Thanks, Authors Notes, Credits, and Disc...

**Thanks:**

I'd like to thank those nice Generals Love gals who critiqued this for me: especially Venusian's kindness. I'd also like to thank Naoko Takeuchi for creating the awesome Sailor Moon manga, by which this story is set.

**Author Notes and Credits:**

This story is based on the Sailor Moon Manga, by Naoko Takeuchi, using particular information from Vol. 3, Act 12 - Reincarnation; Vol. 13, Act 38 - Dream of Venus; and Vol. 14, Act 39 - Dream of the New Soldiers. I do not own any of the characters or settings used therein.

For the first reference, I submit the following evidence: a flashback of Venus on (if using the PocketMixx version) pages 164-165. _There is a heart beat, "badum." Princess Serenity is sneaking around a pillar in the castle. Venus whips around the side of the pillar and shouts "Found you! Princess!" Serenity cringes and Venus rants "Are you running off to see the Prince again? It's dangerous to meet him just for fun!" Serenity protests "It's not just for fun! You don't get it, Venus!" Venus looks surprised and Serenity continues "Because you've never fallen in love with anyone before!" Serenity sticks out her tongue and goes "Nyaah" to Venus, adding "You don't understand my feelings!" Venus gets annoyed as Serenity runs off and calls "Princess!" Closing one eye, she mutters "Geez, you don't know anything..." She has a flashback: [An annoyed Venus is chastising the abashed Serenity. "Princess! You're here again?! We have to go home!" Kunzite and Endymion are standing nearby. Kunzite smiles kindly and comments "It must be hard having a bundle of curiosity for a Princess." And chuckles. Endymion looks flabbergasted and cries "Kunzite!" Venus blushes, seemingly taken by surprise.] Mercury pops up and asks "Venus?" Venus promptly swats (literally) the remnants of her daydream away. _

For the second reference, I offer this: Venus cannot transform. The others had problems with it, but overcame them through trial and terror with the Dead Moon Circus. She is troubled and gets into the shower. Artemis is dwelling over unhappy things, and is peeking at her in the shower, thinking that she looks more like the Goddess of Venus every day. Diana (his daughter from the future, come with Chibiusa/Rini for the second visit) comments to Luna that Artemis looks at Minako as if she is his long lost lover. Luna is disturbed by the idea, but only yanks him from his spying on the girl.

The third is intriguing. Venus, still not able to transform as in the second reference, is about to fall, rescued only by Artemis' paws holding onto her hand. A boulder falls onto him and his blood runs down her arm. Minako is crying, "Artemis! I'm sorry, Artemis. All this time, I have often said unkind things about you, and even bullied you. But now I understand! Your suffering and pain is mine too! Artemis, we are one! You are my alter ego!" Artemis' paws become human hands. He pushes the boulder away and smiles "Now I understand why you are unable to transform, Mina. It's because as your partner, I am not powerful enough." Minako feels that she and Artemis have become much closer and feels power from him. He then gives her the power to transform.

(Thanks go to Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon Anime and Manga manga translations, because they cleared up a few little curiosities I had about the scenes and, since I don't have Vol 13 or 14 with me presently, some of the dialogue of Venus and Artemis in 14.)  
In the first reference, it shows a bit of the relationship (if you could call it that) between Kunzite and Venus. In the second, the dwelling of Artemis on the Goddess of Venus, and his linking her and Minako; since Minako is the princess of Venus, I assume this may be her mother, as the Moon Queen was also called the Goddess of the Moon, Selene. For the third, I noted his use of the term "partner." This can be both a professional and casual term. It implies a connection, and Minako herself feels him to be very close to her. If I had wished, I might have gone on the idea that they were lovers at one point, but that would be too freakishly Lolita for me and I like Kunzite. Besides, when Serenity said Venus had never been in love, Venus didn't think of Artemis, she thought of Kunzite.

Anyway, that's all, thank you.

_Enter if you dare..._


	2. A Princess, a Prince, and a Sailor Sensh...

The banging on Princess Minako's door sounded so urgent that she stumbled over a stool in the dark as she rushed to open it.

"Serenity is gone to Earth again," said Artemis as he entered and shut the door behind himself.

Minako's eyes hardened and the grip on her yellow robe tightened as she stood straighter. "Hang on a sec," Minako grabbed a dress randomly from her closet and went behind a screen to throw it on. She came out without shoes or hair bow and followed Artemis to the transport room.

Artemis admired the simple beauty of his partner's appearance. Her golden hair flew as they raced, filmy gown rushing into the curves of her otherwise bare body; there was something primal and alluring in the way her feet slapped against the cold marble and in the clean line of her ankles.

Artemis was breathing harder than Minako as she activated the transport for Earth. As it booted up, she slipped a small wand from a pouch around her waist, under her dress, and shouted the transformation spell: "Venus POWER!"

What followed kept Artemis completely riveted. The dress melted away to bare a body without definition but for a simple, curvaceous form, filled with golden light, which quickly gained body suit and skirt, a long, gleaming blade brandished in the girl's right hand. Her hair was still bow-less, but he thought it suited her.

"You are so much like your mother," he told her, smiling, as they stepped onto the platform to be taken to Earth.

The Princess of Venus looked at him, startled. "Thank you." There was a sadness lurking in both their eyes as they looked at each other. The Queen of Venus had passed away when Minako was only five, and Artemis had been the woman's advisor for many years, as Luna was the Moon Queen's. After her death, he had taken over caring for the small, orphaned princess, and stayed by her side forever since.

They closed their eyes and opened them again to green, manicured lawns partially obscured by the small copse of trees they'd arrived in.

They heard murmuring on the other side of the trees. Minako recognized the voices and moved toward them.

"I don't care," Serenity was saying, her arms around Endymion's neck, "as long as I can be with you." Endymion was holding the princess back, but he frowned down at her.

Minako pushed into the open and brandished her sword at the blonde guard that stood up to protect his Prince. He was new, she noted, as she had never seen him before on her missions to retrieve the princess.

"_Serenity,_" Minako bit out, eyeing the blonde man warily, "come here. We're going home, _now_."

The princess' spirits slumped visibly but she obeyed, getting behind her guard.

"Artemis, take Serenity home. I'll be right behind."

The blonde man had begun to circle to more advantageous ground.

"I'll see you later, Endymion!" Serenity called, and the Prince smiled at her.

Venus turned her head to glare fully at her Princess. "Like _hell_ you will! I am so _sick_ of –" she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, as a warm body barreled into her from the side, knocking her down. The sword fell only a few feet away. "Crap," she got out as a blade pressed to the back of her neck, before she was able to touch her forehead and mutter a brief incantation. She was lucky only one arm was pinned under her. "Venus Crescent Beam –" the man's weight was no longer on her and she breathed sharply, drawing herself to stand in case anyone else should decide to play Squash Venus.

"Idiot," said a deep voice from nearby. She turned to look at three other men, two of which were staring at her. She wasn't surprised they were - her Sailor _fuku_ caused lots of men to stare. She suspected it had more to do with the short skirt than because it denoted her rank and power.

Endymion pushed a hand through his hair with an apologetic wince. "New guards."

The blonde man who had tackled her was being chastised by another man with long silver hair.

Ignoring the men for the moment, she picked up her sword - a blade made entirely of Silver Imperium Crystal - and made sure it hadn't gotten too dirty in the scuffle. She didn't feel like cleaning it again - last time, she'd gone through an entire trunk of rags, because its hard surface kept shredding them.

"Lady Venus," the men came over, the blonde one speaking to her. "I'm very sorry, I did not understand that your role to protect your Princess was so much like ours to our Prince. Please accept my apologies."

"Accepted," she told him absently, taking out the transport communicator and checking it for damage. She probed it with her magic and frowned. "Artemis!" she called, striding thoughtfully toward her partner and the princess. "Something's wrong. Check it." She tossed the instrument to him, folding her arms and hoping she wouldn't have to call Mercury down. Ami was the best technician on the Moon, but she would lecture them horribly.

"Can I help?" One of the two aloof men, a green-eyed fellow with long dark blonde hair, approached Artemis and they tinkered with the transport communicator for a few minutes as Serenity made her way back over to the Prince.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if I was stuck down here?" Serenity smiled, but Endymion frowned.

"You'd be in danger. You know there are people on Earth who would _love_ to hurt you. Things are bad enough with the wars going on in some of our lower countries, we don't need one with the Moon because their Princess was hurt on an excursion down here." He was right, but Serenity pouted anyway.

"Just for _pretend_."

"Princess, shut _up_!" With every passing moment, Minako was getting more nervous. "If we're stuck down here, you won't have to wait for your mother to kill you, _I'll_ take the liberty."

"Minako!" Serenity exclaimed, shocked. "_I_ didn't break the deally-ma-bobber thing!"

"No," Minako whirled on the other girl, furious, "but you came down here, _without_ supervision, _without_ telling anyone, and expected everything to be _fine_! You have to think about other people, too, Serenity! Like that _huge_ Senshi meeting that I'm the head speaker at tonight! Two-hundred and forty five Sailor Senshi, Serenity!"

The Princess turned her face away, ashamed, and Venus' anger deflated.

She walked over to the sniffling Princess and wrapped her arms around her, sighing and murmuring, "I'm sorry."

The Princess was trembling. "But I-I messed up your plans! It's all my fault!"

"It is _not_ your fault," Minako murmured, resting her chin on the other girl's shoulder. "It's just a stuffy, boring old meeting where I tell everyone a bunch of stuff they already know. Mars can take over, anyway. I always have a backup plan!" She turned the Princess and smiled. "So no more tears, eh?"

Serenity sniffled again and looked uncertain. "But you might have met a cute guy Senshi and fallen in love and gotten married but now you won't meet him because I _stopped you from going_!" the Princess wailed.

Venus laughed, hugging her friend again. "There aren't any male Senshi, but I wouldn't have time for romance anyway."

"See?! See?!" Serenity persisted, "I'm _still_ ruining your life! Because of me, you don't have time to fall in love!"

Venus chuckled and sighed. "Oh, dear little Princess. I love what I'm doing now. Protecting you and the Moon. How about tonight, after we get back, you, me, and the other Inners have a pillow fight and then an all-out soul-bearing ice cream fest?"

"Really?" the Princess looked up at her hopefully, and Venus nodded.

"Absolutely."

Serenity was happy again and threw herself into Endymion's embrace. He and his men had discreetly removed themselves to a bench on the other side of the roses, but as Venus stood there, looking over at them, she found herself uncomfortable with the idea of joining them as easily as Serenity had. Luckily, she was distracted as Artemis came over with the transport communicator.

"It should work now, if you put some of your power into it before we go."

Venus smiled. "Great."

Moments later, they were in a small triangle, holding hands and concentrating on the transport communicator. Venus and Artemis held it together and, as the power reached its peak Venus cried out "_Venus Power!_"

With a hard yank, the transport communicator tugged at her power, but something went wrong, some bit didn't meet, and it lashed back at her, flinging her from the triangle and into a tree. She fell, scratched and bruised, and felt warm hands turning her over. Someone was calling her name, but her vision was too fuzzy to tell who.

"Minako! Minako! Speak to me, Mina-chan!" Artemis cradled her limp form in his arms.

Her lips moved, but it took a moment for her to make any noise.

"P-princess . . . prin . . . princess . . ." she murmured.

"She's all right, Mina-chan, dear little Mina-chan," Artemis rocked her a little, his silvery hair falling into her thick gold, seeing her again as a little girl whose mom had just died - lost and in desperate need of protecting. "I'm so, so sorry," he whispered, head bending low over her.

Serenity leaned over her then, tears marking her face, and clasped Minako's hand. She was saying something, possibly hysterical, but sound seemed to fade.

The Princess of Venus stared mutely into the sky, unseeing, and fainted.


	3. The Healing Process

Minako woke up in a dim room, sunlight slanting in from an open window. The Princess was slumped into an easy-chair nearby, snoring lightly. She had changed clothes. Instead of her white and gold Moon gown, she was in a heavy red brocade that seemed a little too tight around the bust and hips. Her hair was even taken from its traditional style and placed into a braided coronet on top of her head. Minako looked down at herself and found that her dress had become a loose white sleeping-gown.   
    She lay there, remembering what had happened for a long while. Finally, she attempted to stand but fell quickly to her knees. The noise awakened Serenity, who flitted to Minako's side.   
    "You shouldn't be out of bed!" Serenity scolded, pushing her guardian back under the covers and tucking them under her chin. Minako tried to protest, but Serenity shushed her. "You've taken care of me all my life; now I can finally repay you." The Princess was somewhat wan, and Minako, picking up on it instantly, questioned her about it. "Oh," Serenity blushed. "Artemis and I gave you some of our energy, and Endymion healed a few of your really bad injuries. That backlash was really terrible – we thought you were going to die. But you didn't and Endymion was nice, letting us stay in the castle as his guests."   
    "_What?!_" Minako tried to sit up, but Serenity pushed her back down.   
    "Don't worry, the only people who know who we are is Endymion and his guards. The king and queen think we're nothing more than a family traveling party Endy-chan took in because you were hurt so badly."   
    "Family?" Minako settled back and let this sink in. Her back was killing her – it had taken most of the blow when she hit the tree – and the forming headache wasn't helping.   
    "Yes, you, me and Artemis are brother and sisters. We look enough alike, I guess." Serenity smiled, warmth flowing into the room with her sunny countenance, and Minako felt a little of her pain melt away.   
    "Okay," Minako murmured, her eyes slipping closed. "Just don't let anybody stumble over you and 'Endy-chan' in one of your little embraces. Rumors fly about castles as quickly as flies on fresh refuse."   
    Serenity blushed and smiled. "Of course, Mina-chan. You just get better now." She kissed her guard on the forehead and slipped from the room, going to tell Endymion and Artemis that Minako had awoken. 

Artemis was with Endymion's four guards, pacing back and forth as they talked in low tones.   


    "Do you think it's really safe to have the Moon Princess here?" the brown-haired man was asking.   
    "As long as no one finds out who she is," a blonde one replied.   
    "Shush, you two," the silvery blonde ordered, swirling the wine in his cup as he brooded. "Don't speak of who they are, even if we think we're alone. It's dangerous."   
    "Yes, sir," the men replied and fell silent because the door opened.   
    Serenity entered and Artemis stopped pacing to face her. Her smile was enough to lift most of the burden from his chest. "She's awake and wanting to get up and do things, but I made her go back to sleep. She'll probably be starving next time she wakes up, so we should get some food for her."   
    Artemis smiled. "Good, I'm glad she's alright."   
    "She's not _alright_," the silver-haired man said. "She'll be recuperating from that hit against the tree for a while, and there's still no guarantee that she'll be able to perform her duties as well as she used to."   
    Serenity looked worried and the man, Kunzite, eyed her briefly.   
    "If you like – what should I call you?" he broke off, frowning.   
    Serenity thought for a moment. 'Princess' and 'Serenity' were too obvious names for her stay on Earth. "Bunny, please."   
    "If you like, Miss Bunny, I know enough about injuries that I believe a small session with Miss Minako every day would help her heal faster and better."   
    "Hey, that's true!" one of the other guards, a man with short blonde hair, said. "Kunzite is the best at helping people work out their injuries! He's great – I broke my ankle once and thought I would have to drop from the Prince's guard until Kunzite helped me out."   
    Kunzite gave a small, amused smile. "Thank you, Jadeite."   
    "Okay, then," Serenity gave a sweet, charming smile and granted him permission to aide the Princess of Venus in her healing. 

Kunzite went to see Minako when she had woken up again, to start the sessions. When he entered, she was doing admirable damage to her tray of assorted meats, cheeses, and breads. There was a vase with fresh flowers from the gardens, and the Moon Princess sat beside the bed, attending any of her friend's needs.   


    "Ser–Bunny, please!" Minako protested as the Princess moved to go fetch some more of the meat pies Minako had been enjoying so much. Minako laughed. "You don't have to do this! Really, I _should_ be waiting on _you_."   
    "Nonsense," the Princess folded her arms and looked more determined than Kunzite thought she could. "You work too much already. Just sit back and enjoy the leisure time while you can, and pretty soon we'll be back home where you can fuss at me for running around in my good dresses and things like that."   
    Minako made a small grunt of compliance and nibbled a piece of cheese. "Who lent you those clothes?" she looked again at the long, too-tight gown.   
    "One of the ladies in court," Serenity looked absently at the skirt. "Endymion didn't really say who, exactly. It kind of hurts, but it's better than nothing. . . ." She trailed off because Minako's attention had been drawn to the man clearing his throat by the door. "Oh! Kunzite!" Serenity smiled.   
    Kunzite was feeling particularly uncomfortable with the Venusian's suspicious glare on him. It faded, however, as the Princess seemed to have been expecting him.   
    "Great! You're here for that thing we talked about, right?" He nodded and the Princess smiled, turning to Minako. "Kunzite has offered to help you feel better!"   
    Minako blinked and Kunzite blushed a little. That had sounded a little more personal than his intentions had been. "I know a lot about helping injuries," he clarified, stepping forward and bowing to her. "If you would permit me to put my knowledge to use, I believe it would help."   
    "Oh," Minako nodded, her cheeks cooling slightly. "Of course, then."   
    "I'll take the tray and leave you to work," Serenity smiled, a deep-rooted concern lingering behind her cheer.   
    He waited until the door had shut behind the Princess to speak. "Lie down on your stomach. I need to familiarize myself with your injuries."   
    Minako did as asked, a little self-conscious as he pulled back the covers and took off his gloves. She gasped a little when she felt his magic touch her back. It was not an unpleasant sensation, but rather a cool, silver light that caressed her, pausing on each of her aches and hurts for long moments before moving on. The magic missed no part of her body and Minako was feeling decidedly exposed when he had finished. She was flushing and would not look at him.   
    He did not speak for such a long time that she finally glanced up at him. He was sitting beside her on the bed, one leg drawn up under him, face glowing with perspiration as he breathed, eyes closed in strain. She dared not touch him, but it was scaring her that he did not move.   
    Finally, after long moments, he opened his eyes and breathed heavily. "I have it." He had memorized the severity of her injuries.   
    "Now what?" she whispered.   
    "Now?" he looked startled, as if he had forgotten she was even in the room. He blinked twice, then looked over her back again, biting his lip. His eyes were pale blue and analytical; Minako found herself enjoying watching them peruse her. "Now I give you medication and you sleep," he sighed. "You need rest tonight, and we can start for real tomorrow morning." He took a pill from a pouch at his belt and examined it, then, finding it good enough, put it in the cup of wine he had kept back for her. "You'll hurt like hell in the morning," he said as she drank the wine, "but I've done a little magic on your injuries that should speed their healing. The problem is that we need to keep them from healing _wrong_. Like those broken ribs, or the bone in your foot that got messed up."   
    Minako sighed, not looking forward to the next session at _all_. She handed him the wine glass and let him pull the covers back up over her. She trembled with pain and felt his eyes on her one last moment before the candle was blown out and the door clicked shut behind him. 

They had sessions every morning, just before dawn, where Kunzite would come in and pay particular attention to each injury, stretching it, wrapping it, or using magic to melt away bruises or fix some unreachable problem, such as the smashed bone in her foot.   


    Both were thoroughly worn out after every session, as if after a major workout; yet she felt surprisingly better after each. Minako blushed at the thought that Kunzite probably knew her body better than she did.   
    After every session, the Moon Princess would come to help Minako into a warm bath to wash off all sweat and grime, and Artemis would come to talk with her. The rest of the castle, happily, left them all alone.   
    It so happened that after one particularly long session, the Princess failed to come. Kunzite usually stayed with Minako until Serenity came, but this day, for some reason, she did not.   
    "I guess I'll be dirty all day," Minako murmured placidly when Kunzite made this observation. She chuckled when he grimaced. "No, I'll just go in there myself. I don't really need Bunny's help anymore." She swung her legs over the side of the bed, but before she could stand Kunzite had caught her and lifted her.   
    "That foot is still not ready to be walked on, Minako," he warned, carrying her toward her bath.   
    "What--" she exclaimed, startled, as he pushed through the door and took her inside. "What are you doing?!" She clung to his neck and stared at the warm water, supplied earlier by a few castle attendants.   
    "Getting you in the water, what do you think?" he replied, setting her on a bench and working at the double-knotted bow keeping her night-dress closed in back. "Then I'm going to leave and fetch Miss Bunny to help you out again." He seemed to recognize her distress, as he added, "Don't worry."   
    "Don't worry," she repeated and rolled her eyes, flushing hotly in embarrassment as her dress suddenly fell from her shoulders. But Kunzite did not treat her like a lover, or even a _woman_, as he all too calmly slipped one arm around her bare waist and let the dress fall to the floor, preparing to carry her to the bath.   
    Artemis peeked in the open door.   
    "Mina-chan?" he pushed his head in farther. "_Mina-chan!_" Minako looked at Artemis in horror. She was in a very undignified position, but Kunzite kept his head and put her as calmly as ever into the warm water, where she could curl up and keep part of her now-tattered dignity.   
    Kunzite frowned at his sopping sleeves and shook them absently, flinging water over the floor.   
    "What the _hell_?" Artemis was saying, and Kunzite turned to look at him.   
    Artemis hit him. It was a blow to the jaw, packed with fury and inexperience, so that the emotional charge outweighed the pain.   
    They stood there, glaring at each other for a long while. Finally, Artemis spoke. "Bunny said she'll be late."   
    "Okay."   
    Minako wanted to die.


	4. The Embarrassment

"He gave you a _bath_?" Bunny's eyes were wide.   
    "No," Minako sighed. "He just put me _in_ it."   
    "Still."   
    "No, he was moving," Minako replied absently and got a giggle from her friend after a moment. The Venusian girl smiled slightly and spoke, "It wasn't anything bad. He was just helping out. . . . I think."   
    "You _think_?"   
    "Would you stop doing that?" Minako popped another piece of cheese in her mouth and slapped the Princess' hand away from her meat pies.   
    "Fine, fine." Serenity looked with such pitiful eyes at the pies that Minako finally gave in and gave her one. "So, do you like him?" she asked around a mouthful.   
    "Kunzite?" Minako blushed a little. "He . . . well, he doesn't really treat me like anything other than a patient. All he ever wants to talk about are my injuries – which is fine, I guess, but it gets a little boring sometimes."   
    Serenity grinned. "So you _do_ like him!"   
    "Who?" Artemis asked, entering.   
    "No!" Minako protested, and shot Serenity a Look. She turned to Artemis as he closed the door. "Nobody, Bunny's just trying to meddle in my love-life."   
    "You know," Serenity added, waving the remaining half of her meat pie at Artemis, "that nonexistent thing?"   
    "Ah," Artemis was oddly quiet as they continued their debate, only making noncommittal noises when they would ask him a question.   
    "I just don't want to see you old and alone," Serenity told Minako earnestly. "I feel that it's somehow my fault, and I want to see you happy."   
    "I'll be happy when we get home!" Minako growled, giving vent to some of her deeper concerns. She pushed away the rest of her tray and lay back pensively, not looking at either of them. Kunzite was dominating her mind and confusing her to no end. Why had he done that? Was he only trying to be helpful? She doubted a fellow like that would offer only for the purpose of seeing her nude. He was more noble than that.   
    So why? He could have just gone to get Bunny, or sent a servant to find her, when it came to that. Perhaps he only saw her as a child he needed to take care of. But there was no indication that he had a soft spot for children, either. . . .   
    "Mina-chan?" Artemis touched her shoulder lightly.   
    "Please go," she whispered. "I'm tired." _And confused,_ her mind added. _So very confused._   
    "Of course." She listened to them leave and turned into her pillow, letting the tears come. 

Kunzite's hands shook as he broke into Jadeite's liquor cabinet. It was too early for any of his fellow Generals to be back, and he needed something to calm himself. Succeeding in the lock-picking, he pulled out a bottle of the strongest stuff and poured a sloppy little glass full. Downing it, he poured another and just held it for a moment, closing his eyes and drinking it.   


    He locked the cabinet back and went to his room to lie down. What the _hell_ had he been thinking?! Eyes closed, he went back over the moments in which he had made that one decision.   
    It was nothing, he had told himself. Just being helpful. No harm.   
    Gods, he was an _idiot_. He should have taken a clue from how uncomfortable the girl had been. It hadn't been appropriate – it had been wildly, horrifyingly _wrong_ of him to do that.   
    He felt as if he had just raped the girl.   
    _Woman_, Kunzite corrected, remembering the curves he had glimpsed as he put her in the water, and the long legs he had been working with lately to keep strong despite her lack of physical activity. _A rather _young_ woman, but no girl._ A shudder went through him and he groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes in mortification.   
    There was a light knock on his door and his fellow Generals came in. Zoicite sat on the edge of his bed and the other two stood.   
    "We heard some rumors," Nephrite began.   
    "And we were worried about them," Zoicite finished. "Worried about you."   
    Kunzite sighed. "They're true."   
    Jadeite stepped forward. "So you really took a bath with the injured girl?!"   
    "_What_?!" Kunzite sat straight up, staring at his friends.   
    Zoicite breathed a relieved sigh. "I thought it must have been exaggerated. So what really happened? Did you walk in on her or something?"   
    Kunzite fell back again. "Thank you for thinking me so virtuous, but it was worse than that." He sighed and turned his head to look Zoicite calmly in the eye, not flinching from the bitter truth, and told them.   
    "Wow," Jadeite murmured in the following silence.   
    "Why?" Nephrite asked.   
    "I don't _know_!" Kunzite sat up and banged his fist against the bed.   
    "Why is _any_ man stupid around a woman?" Zoicite finally spoke, looking up at Jadeite, who had enough grace to blush through his grin. Zoicite turned to Kunzite. "I think you like her. You wanted to do something nice for her, but you were stupid. Happens all the time, doesn't it, Jade?"   
    "_Hell_, yeah," the blonde replied, smiling at Kunzite.   
    "Apologize to her, Kunz. Go right now if you have to and talk to her. You'll be glad you did."   
    Kunzite thought about it for a moment, and a faint smile crossed his lips. "Okay." 

Artemis watched Minako sleep. The moonlight was falling over her wrist and cheek. The resemblance to her mother was increased tenfold as she lie there, hair spread around her.   


    Artemis moved to look down at her, careful not to disturb the rays of moonlight falling over her. "My Goddess," he murmured, an image of similar beauty superimposing itself over Minako. He bent and brushed his lips gently across the sleeping woman's. Her eyelids fluttered and she looked up in drowsy confusion. Artemis smiled down at his Lady. He often went to her rooms at night, being a favorite consort of the Venusian Queen's, besides her advisor; since he was of another race, there was no fear that she would conceive.   
    "Kunzite?" The voice was different. His Queen's was soft and sweet, with low bell-like tones. This voice was similar, but had the ring of authority and power that the other lacked. This was not his Queen! Artemis frowned and backed away. "Oh, Artemis," his vision broke and he saw Minako sitting up in worry before him, "what's going on?"   
    Artemis was shocked. "Princess! Mina-chan. Forgive me, I had been dreaming and . . ." his eyes narrowed and he shifted to a fighting stance as he caught sight of movement across the room. Someone was coming in.   
    "Minako?" Kunzite whispered, startled as a candle inside the room sprang to life. He glimpsed over to see Minako's slim, pale hand withdrawing from lighting the wick.   
    Artemis strode to the door and blocked Kunzite's brief view of Minako, lit from the side, her face averted. "The Princess of Venus will not be seeing anyone tonight. Please leave."   
    Artemis was cold as ice and Kunzite scowled. "I have to talk to Minako."   
    "That's _Lady_ Minako to you, pervert," Artemis spit, looking particularly immovable.   
    Kunzite's eyes narrowed to bright blue chips. "I'm warning you. If you don't move . . ."   
    "And I'm warning _you_," Artemis snapped, stepping up to the broader General. "I have served that girl for twelve years, and her mother longer. She's practically a _daughter_ to me, and I swear by the Earth, the Moon, and Venus itself that if you come near her again I will kill you."   
    Realizing the fervor and justness of the other man's position, Kunzite fell back a bit, relenting – but before he could speak, a small voice came from the bed.   
    "Let him speak, Artemis. He will do no harm if you stay right outside the door to mangle his body should he do something offensive."   
    "Are you sure, Mina-chan?" he turned partially, concerned.   
    "Go, Artemis." Silken steel lined her voice and he did not resist any more, only giving Kunzite a cold glare before slipping out of the door.   
    Kunzite waited for the door to shut firmly before moving to Minako's bedside. He knelt. "I'm sorry. You have no idea how sorry. I was foolish and did not think about my actions. I should have realized I was making you uncomfortable. . . ."   
    "Uncomfortable," she repeated, an odd quality tinging her voice. Her head turned to him with a swish of her golden hair against the blankets and she glared at him, fists tightening on the bedspread. "I was _mortified_! What in the name of Selene were you _thinking_?!"   
    Kunzite grimaced, self-loathing rising in him like bile, and he cringed from her anger. "I wasn't, lady, I wasn't thinking," he whispered, and looked up at her, meeting her hard blue eyes with difficulty. No enemy had ever made him so nervous. "Zoicite said that men do stupid things when they like a woman. He said that," Kunzite was blushing but would not take his eyes from hers, "the greater the stupidity, the more they care for the woman." Kunzite paused and licked his lips nervously. "I _do_ like you, Minako. I suppose it took that jolt to make me face it, but I _do_ like you." He turned away, cheeks fully burning. "Anyway," he cleared his throat, "I'm very sorry and I'll leave you alone now." He stood and turned.   
    A cool, slim hand caught his. "Wait."   
    Kunzite turned back in surprise, staring at the long tanned arm that had shot out to grab him, and the beautiful girl attached to it, hair cascading behind her and glinting rich gold in the firelight. Her eyes, blue as the sky on a warm spring day, were solemn and heated.   
    "Don't go yet," she murmured, pulling him to sit on the side of her bed – very near herself. He looked down at her, gazes only inches apart, and saw her blink and blush. "Sorry," she looked down and shifted away. She tried to release his hand, but he wouldn't let her. "Please," she blushed more deeply and tugged on her hand. He released it gently.   
    "Forgive me, lady."   
    "It's Minako," she hissed, not quite losing her blush. "If anyone should hear you giving me title, they will become suspicious. I will _not_ have you jeopardizing my Princess."   
    He looked away and gave a brief, unhappy laugh. "Apparently, I do nothing right." He looked bitterly at the candle.   
    Minako touched his hand. "I'm sorry. I'm just confused. This has never happened to me before."   
    Kunzite turned his head and smiled slightly, the line of his neck tightening deliciously. "It's new for me, too, Minako." He smiled and sighed a chuckle, putting his warm, dry hand over hers. "Though I'm probably a lot less experienced than you."   
    Minako frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" She drew in a breath indignantly. "You know, just because I'm the Goddess of Love doesn't mean I'm a – a whore or anything!"   
    "No, no!" Kunzite fretted, trying to calm her. "I didn't mean that! I just thought. . . . you. . . ."   
    "Had been with men," Minako folded her arms angrily.   
    "No!"   
    "Fine," she turned, cold fury pouring from every inch of her body, and slipped off the other side of the bed.   
    "Minako," Kunzite sat straighter, concerned. Minako took a determined step, but faltered and almost fell. Kunzite leapt across the bed and had pulled her up onto it before she could go any further. "You foolish little thing!" he cried, looking at her bandaged foot. It had begun to throb and Minako groaned as he loosed it from the bandages.   
    "It hurts."   
    Kunzite looked at her foot for a long moment, then up at her face. "I could heal you. Completely. But I need your permission."   
    "You have it," she gasped as a terrible cramping ache shot through her foot.   
    "I need you," he said, turning her face toward him, "to trust me. It won't work if you don't."   
    Minako looked into his eyes for a long moment, gazing deep, deep into him. She found a warrior, full of resolve and kindness, fun and pride, pain and a sweet, gentle, pounding emotion. For _her_. He cared for her.   
    She nodded silently, and he kissed her.   
    Minako gave herself up to the kiss and suddenly felt a wash of silver energy pulse through her, pouring from his mouth to hers and spreading to every extension of her body. It gushed and flowed and trickled, filling her with effervescent silver bubbles, like champagne or some sweet, fizzy soda.   
    When Kunzite released her, they were both gasping.   
    "There," he smiled breathlessly and kissed her lightly on the nose, "all better." She watched him turn to go, sending one pale glance back at her, filled with delicious promises. 

Minako got up the next morning and wondered at the lack of pain in her body. She ached a little, but it was a good, healthy ache, and served to fuel her appetite when a delighted Serenity brought her breakfast.   


    "But how did it happen?!" Serenity exclaimed, watching her friend stretch on the floor and nibble meat pies alternately.   
    Venus bent one knee and put the other leg straight out behind her, holding the position for five seconds before switching legs. "That's a secret," she replied, blue eyes twinkling up at her Princess.   
    "Oh, you!" Serenity threw a piece of cheese at Venus, who caught it and did a back-bend.   
    "It's so _good_ to be well again," she gloried. She kicked at an invisible opponent and the door opened.   
    "Mina-chan," Artemis came in, staring at her. After Kunzite had left the night before, Minako had told Artemis to go on back to his rooms. "Are you sure you should be doing that?" he frowned.   
    "Yes," she smiled, twirling and giving him a deep curtsey. "Now," she rose gracefully on her whole, healthy feet, "where's the training area?"   
    In only minutes, Minako was out on the training field, watching the men practice. She was dressed in a pair of slacks Artemis had borrowed and found too small for himself, and one of his undershirts, her chest bound with cloth. Her hair was pinned up under one of Endymion's old, ragged hats, and her face was concealed by one of the protective face-masks the men used in training. The men on the field also had on lots of padding, but Minako had always hated that stuff. It was heavy, like the weights she had always worn to train in, and was in no mood to wear those horrible, cumbersome things. Healed, she was in a mood to fly, not be dragged down by stupid old gravity.   
    Minako picked up a long, slender pole from those polished, wooden ones available and walked out onto the field, keeping a sharp eye out for a sparring partner. A little bit away she caught sight of an unmasked blonde head instructing one of the other men on a blocking technique. It was one of the Generals, the one that had knocked her down. What was his name again? Oh yes. Jadeite.   
    Minako smiled under her mask as she sauntered over and poked him in the side. He stopped talking and blinked, turning around to look at her. She slipped into an attack stance and waited as his eyes registered understanding. He nodded, agreeing to the fight, and slid his mask down, waving the trainees away with the flick of his pole. She took the first move, jabbing up and then blocking as he moved in. They whirled and jabbed and feinted, drawing an audience of the other men. It was startling how well the skinny, short boy was doing against their General!   
    Minako was having a tough time – he was better than she had thought! – but her exhilaration took her up into the realms of invulnerability and she finally disarmed him.   
    Jadeite pushed back his mask and smiled, a little bemused, shaking her hand. "Good fight," he panted.   
    "Care to try your hand at me?" someone asked from behind her, and Minako turned in surprise to look at Kunzite. He adjusted his gloves and glanced at her, not seeming to realize who she was. She wondered a little, though, if he knew. His eyes grazed over her analytically and he frowned, looking back up at her masked face. "Well?" he finally said, picking up his own pole.   
    She responded by nodding and falling into a defensive stance. The fight was a valiant display, and all those on the field made a large, loose ring around the pair. Minako managed to keep pace with Kunzite and made a few breath-taking moves of her own, almost getting him disarmed at several points.   
    Minako twirled and blocked his newest attempt, still a little tired from her fight with Jadeite, when she saw the opening – he had left his right side unprotected. She went for it, lunging out of the way of his pole as he tried to trip her up. . . .   
    The padding made a soft poof as her pole slammed into it, marking the victory of her fight.   
    They stopped, Kunzite standing silently and looking down at where she had hit him. He pushed the dark mask back on his head as she sat on the grass, gasping for breath, and had a very curious expression in his eyes. He looked from his side to where she sat and strode forward purposefully, reaching down and pushing her mask up before she could stop him. He stared at her for a moment, then blinked.   
    "What are you doing here?" he asked.   
    His tone made her triumphant smile falter, and she was suddenly unsure of her decision to come out. "I wanted some practice," her eyes flickered to the grass and she brought her legs up to her in a very self-conscious movement.   
    "You should be resting," he told her softly as the circle began to press toward them.   
    She glared up at him, anger suddenly flooding her, and leapt to her feet. "I've been resting for three _weeks_!" she ranted. "I needed to get back out!" She glared and added, "Or are you just miffed that you were whipped by a girl?"   
    "You shouldn't even be _out_ here," he whispered at her fiercely, conscious of the other three generals quickly converging on them.   
    "Why the hell not?!" she glared at him, furious. "Because I'm too weak and pitiful for your little boys' games? Is that it?!"   
    "Minako," his jaw was working fiercely, as if he was fighting to keep control.   
    "Forget it," she muttered hotly, ripping the hat and hairpins from her head and throwing them at Kunzite. Her hair, freed, blew around her as she turned, a dangerous glint in her eye. "I can't wait to get home."   
    "I was beaten by a _girl_?!" Jadeite mourned and Minako sent him a withering look.   
    She set off toward the castle, the men parting in front of her as if she might cut off one of their heads at any minute, and found Artemis hurrying toward her, a worried glint in his eye. "Lady," he whispered as he reached her, "the Queen is coming tonight to bring us all home. You need to prepare for her."   
    Despite her recent words, she had no wish to hurry home. A pang hit her stomach, both of disappointment and urgency, and she grabbed Artemis' sleeve, running toward the castle. It would take a while for her to wash, not to mention do her hair and dress!   
    She scrubbed fiercely and had Artemis help with the ties on her dress, borrowing some shoes from one of the court ladies and some orchids from the garden, twining them into the curls and bounds of her hair.   
    Artemis was a master hairstylist.   
    She was finished just as a knock sounded on her door. Artemis opened it, expecting Serenity, but found Kunzite standing there instead, hands clasped behind his back. Artemis scowled.   
    "Get lost," he growled to the general. Kunzite only looked over Artemis' shoulder to Minako, who had been looking tensely for Serenity. Presently, the color drained from her face and she looked away, her pride still hurt.   
    "Please," was all Kunzite said to her, and she sighed, telling Artemis to give them a minute. He did, grudgingly, and Kunzite stood awkwardly in the room with her. "I'm sorry I was rude," he whispered and looked at her, bringing a bouquet of white orchids from behind his back.   
    Startled at the gift, she took them gingerly.   
    "I hope you like that kind," he added lamely.   
    "I love them," she smiled softly and turned a little so he could see the matching flowers in her hair.   
    "Oh," he looked away and blushed, heaving a great breath. "Sorry."   
    She stepped forward to reassure him – about everything – when another knock interrupted her. Minako sighed, biting her lip.   
    "Mina!" Serenity called urgently from the other side and Minako groaned.   
    "I'm sorry Kunzite," she put a hand on his, understanding the frustration in his eyes, and went to the door, holding the flowers carefully as she reached to open it.   
    "Another match, when I see you again," he said quickly, and she turned back, startled, then nodded and smiled.   
    "Can't let that masculine pride go undefended," she quipped dismally, then opened the door and was gone.


	5. To the Moon

The Moon 

Serenity sulked for a week after they had gotten home because her mother had restricted her to her rooms for quite a while. Minako was not punished, as she had tried everything in her power to get the Princess home and been hurt in the process, but was reprimanded lightly for not catching onto the Princess' intentions before it all started.   
    It was bleak out, clouds dark and pregnant with rain as Minako wandered through the garden. No one else was out, and she blessed the impending rain for her solitude. Her thoughts wandered to Kunzite, though she tried to push the images of him away. It hurt more than she thought it would.   
    Minako sighed, a gnawing in her chest giving way to aching gloom.   
    "Sit, Princess Venus," a light, musical voice suggested, and Minako swung around in surprise to see Princess Mercury on one of the benches. Pausing for a moment, Minako complied. "What brings you out on this dreary, wet day?"   
    Minako suddenly understood why Ami was outside – her element was water. But it did nothing to slow the pounding in her breast. "Being melancholic," she replied aimlessly.   
    "Do you want to talk about it?" Ami was making something out of the damp, drooping violets, her slim white hands working diligently. Minako was struck by jealousy – Ami was an intelligent, beautiful woman. Her skin was porcelain white, her eyes as calm and blue as the ocean, hair thick, silken, and figure a slender symphony of delicate curves. She could have any man she wanted, and keep him. But she had never wanted men.   
    Truthfully, neither had Minako . . . before. They had all been happy as soldiers and had forsaken normal things – like love or families – for their duties. Minako wasn't afraid that her new feelings would interfere with her job, but it was a bit of a distraction. She chuckled. Having Kunzite with her would be a bigger distraction.   
    Ami gave her a curious sapphire glance, but Minako shook her head and hugged the smaller woman.   
    "I'm okay. Thank you for caring, though, Ami-chan."   
    Ami smiled and returned the hug, bemused as she watched her friend walk away. "Any time, Mina," she murmured, and continued to manipulate her wilted violets. 

Serenity, in the meantime, was throwing a fit. "You didn't _tell_ me that!" she yelled at her mother, crying.   


    "It was _supposed_ to be a surprise, Serenity," the woman returned, "but you just _had_ to put yourself in danger to see him, so now you _won't_ see him."   
    Serenity turned and threw herself on the bed and sobbed. "You . . . [sniffle] . . . didn't tell me . . . [sob] . . . that he was [sniff] . . . coming _here_! [wail]"   
    "Well he is," her mother stood, immovable, "and because you broke the rules, you won't be able to see him during his visit."   
    "Then I'll just run away again!"   
    "You _try_ and I'll put the senshi on you day and night! And not just Venus and them, I'm talking Uranus and Neptune!" her mother threatened.   
    Serenity glared and swiped at her nose, then faltered and turned away. Tears began to slowly course down her cheeks.   
    Her mother sighed and softened – she couldn't stay mad for long. "If you're good for the next two days, I'll let you see him for the rest of his visit."   
    "Really?!" Serenity brightened. Her mother nodded and she threw herself at the tall woman. "Oh, _thank you_, mom! I love you!"   
    "Yes, well," her mother smiled and stroked Serenity's hair. "I have work to do. Just make sure you stay in here no matter what, okay?"   
    "Okay mom," Serenity hugged her one last time and threw herself onto the bed as the door closed behind her mother. _Endymion, here!_ She sighed, happy, not realizing that he and his guards were already unpacking their things in the guest wing.


	6. Rain-Drenched Violets

Zoicite wandered outside, bored. The others were busy getting settled in, and he wanted to test out the waterproofing he'd done on his hand-held computer. Well, that wasn't really true about his friends. Nephrite was busy getting settled in – having gotten stuck unpacking Jadeite's luggage after losing a game of poker before the trip – as Jadeite teased Kunzite about the blonde guard of Serenity, and Endymion just daydreamed about Serenity with a really goofy look.   
    Zoicite ran some tests and sighed, not really interested in the results. Fat, warm rain drops splashed onto his head and computer. After noting that the waterproofing worked, he stuck the instrument into his pocket and looked around, finding himself in the garden.   
    "Who are you?"   
    Zoicite whirled and found himself staring at a young woman with solemn blue eyes and pale, almost translucent skin. Her hair was dark and wet from the rain pelting them, slicked back with a small wreath of wilted flowers perched on it. Her dress clung to her, effectively showing each soft curve and graceful line. She continued to look at him, inquiring.   
    He came to himself with a jolt and bowed hastily.   
    "My name is Zoicite, lady."   
    She nodded and came forward. "I am Ami, of Mercury." She curtseyed vaguely – dipping her body a little, slowly, and nodding, but made no other movement.   
    "What are you doing out here in the rain, lady?" he asked, realizing that he did not have a cloak with which to shield her from the downpour.   
    "I like the rain," she murmured, looking at the castle absently.   
    "Aren't you afraid of catching a cold, lady?"   
    "The rain is warm," she said, as if it was obvious that no one could catch a cold from _warm_ rain. Her eyes flickered to him and narrowed. "Why – are you?"   
    He was a little taken aback at the oddity of her question – was he afraid of catching cold? – but recovered himself quickly and, with a quirky half-smile, took her arm and slipped it through his own. "No, lady." He gestured grandly with his free arm and her eyebrows arched in amusement. "In fact, would the lady care to take a turn in this lovely garden?"   
    She laughed, a sweet, low, silvery note. "Yes, m'lord, I would enjoy that."   
    He smiled at her and they began a lazy stroll. "Might I ask about the flowers?" he finally inquired.   
    Her bright eyes dimmed a bit, clouding in worry, and she touched the violets on her hair. "They are from Mars," she told him, concern etched in her features. "The planet itself – and so, the flowers – have a sort of intuitionic power. They can foretell the future. Mars Violets do so by blooming or wilting. When things are calm, they are buds, when events are pleasant, they bloom, when wholly _un_pleasant, they wilt, and when dreadfully terrible, they die." She took the wreath from her damp hair and looked over the violets. "They are wilting this month." She looked to the castle and he watched her thoughtful profile. "We will wait until Princess Mars discovers the meaning of the drooping violets before any assumptions are drawn," she turned back to him and nodded, finishing her oration.   
    Zoicite smiled and lifted her chin with one hand, meeting her calm, pleasant eyes. "I like smart women," he murmured, and the glow faded from her face, leaving her serious and impassive.   
    "Shall we go in, sir?" she asked in normal tones, turning from him and waiting for him to join her. Since she was facing away from him, he did not see the heat that entered her cheeks, or the quickened rise and fall of her chest.   
    Zoicite was a little hurt, but proffered an arm that she took to walk back to the castle. 


	7. Authority

"So, Kunzite, what do you say of some exercise?" Nephrite asked him, clapping him on the back. "Or would you rather join Endymion in dreaming of beautiful women?"   
    Kunzite smirked up at him, narrowing his eyes. "Shut up." He stood and banged a fist onto his Prince's head to get his attention. "But we _do_ have to get ready to see the Queen later tonight."   
    "Right," his Prince agreed, rubbing his head. "I need a bath."   
    "While you're going to the training rooms, send a servant with bath water," Kunzite told Nephrite off-handedly. "I'll escort the Prince to the meeting, but you three have to clean up in time for dinner."   
    "Sir," Nephrite nodded, then turned and smiled, slipping out of the door. Once in the hall, he caught a passing maid and told her the Prince would need bath water, and asked for directions to the training rooms.   
    When he got there, he saw a young woman taking out her energies on a large, red punching bag.   
    Kick, turn, punch, elbow, kick, body-slam, punch, repeat.   
    "Makoto!" one of the women resting on the side-lines hopped up, tossing her towel and water-bottle down, where a graceful woman with long waves of teal-green hair straightened them. The other woman walked over to the girl she had called "Makoto," the same who had been attacking the punching bag so methodically, and slung an arm around her shoulders. The woman was tall, with short blonde hair, dusty dark blue eyes, and an air of diabolical charm. The other girl was sweaty with exertion, panting lightly, with a long curly brown ponytail, narrowed green eyes, and a tall, full form clad in grey sweatpants and a white tank top.   
    Nephrite stood just inside the doorway, the sounds of people sparring and working out surrounding him, salty sweat thick in the air, and watched the small group a few feet away from him. Oddly, the rest of the occupants of the room took particular pains to keep away from this one peculiar little group, though Nephrite was yet unsure as to why.   
    The brown-haired girl blushed a little at the arm thrown over her shoulders, and the blonde woman looked down at her. "What's wrong, Mako-chan?" Her tone was serious and concerned. The teal-haired woman glanced up, her hands pausing. There was something in that voice that brooked no arguments and stopped all playing.   
    The brown-haired girl sighed. "The Princess went to earth, Minako got hurt, and I didn't do _anything_."   
    The blonde woman squeezed her shoulders. "There was nothing you _could_ do, Mako. Minako couldn't be moved, Serenity wouldn't leave without her, and joining them would just be putting everyone in more danger."   
    "But I couldn't _help_," Makoto choked out. She broke from the friendly embrace and slammed her fist into the heavy punching bag, tears in her eyes.   
    "Excuse me," a gentle, musical voice asked softly, and Nephrite jumped. The teal-haired woman was beside him. The silken layer of aristocracy and inquiry overlaid sword-sharp intelligence and a core of steel. Only Nephrite's keen, talented eye allowed him to catch it. "But do you need something?"   
    "Ah," he replied, slightly embarrassed at having been caught eavesdropping. "Forgive me, lady," he bowed slightly, "I couldn't help overhearing. By chance were your friends speaking of the Princess going to earth?"   
    "Sh," the woman warned, sending a hunting look around, then narrowing her sharp gaze on him. "How do you know about that?" she asked in a low voice. The blonde and brunette came over.   
    He was feeling decidedly uncomfortable under that gaze. She was a beautiful woman – graceful and slender, with soft hair and sweet, large eyes any man would easily be sent to his knees over – but there was something subtly fierce in her look that undermined all elegance and sent chills down his back.   
    The blonde woman put an arm around the teal-haired woman's waist, drawing close to her back, and the brown-haired girl stood a little away from the pair, sending him the same type of look – distrusting, sharp, and with a willingness to fight if necessary. "What's going on, Michiru?" the blonde asked in low, dangerous tones.   
    "This man knew about Serenity's trip to earth," the woman replied, unsettling gaze still on Nephrite.   
    "That's classified."   
    "Yes."   
    They all looked at Nephrite, who felt decidedly outnumbered. "Ladies, please," he held up his hands in a placating gesture. "My name is Nephrite – I'm one of Endymion's guards. Both the Princess and Sailor Venus can vouch for me."   
    They gazed at him a moment longer, then, without trying to be discreet about it, looked at each other.   
    "I'd like to call his bluff," the brown-haired girl, Makoto, said.   
    "He's all yours, lady," the blonde replied, giving him one last, enigmatic look, and taking the teal-woman away.   
    "Come with me," Makoto ordered, eyeing him as they walked out of the training room.   
    As they headed down the corridor, he glanced back. "I hope I don't sound too forward, but are they, those two, um . . ." he cocked his head and made a funny face when Makoto looked over at him.   
    "Yes, they're in love." She made a noncommital gesture, shrugging. "It works for them."   
    When they arrived at Senshi hall, Nephrite glancing on either side of him nervously, Makoto pointed out the various rooms. "This hall is for the Inner and Outer Senshi," she told him in a lecturer's tone, pausing at the beginning. "These two doors," gesturing to a grey iron door with an hourglass on a pedestal beside the doorway, and one opposite it – a black iron door with a finely wrought cage holding a live Death Beetle, "are the chambers of Pluto and Saturn. They don't come here often, though, so we just try to keep the rooms tidy in case of surprise visits." She took him a few feet further to another pair of doors. One door was grey-blue, with a blindfolded hawk on a stand beside it, the other iron with a blue-greenish tinge, iridescent fish darting in a tall tank beside the doorway. "Uranus and Neptune – you just met them," Makoto told him, and he suddenly knew why everyone had kept away from them in the training room. _He_ wouldn't want to mess with the Outer Senshi, especially not that famous pair.   
    "Come," Makoto moved on, but stopped as a man stepped out from the room to their right.   
    When Nephrite looked, he saw the door was golden and a crystal sword was sheathed in a crystal stone on the floor beside the doorway. Across from that was a shimmering forest green door, a slender, leafy tree potted beside it. Looking farther down the hall, he caught a brief glimpse of red, with a real burning fire, and blue with a slender ice sculpture. At the end of the hall were two doors, both white, with a small, glowing crystal on a velvet pillow between them.   
    "Artemis!" Makoto went forward. "You were on Earth – can you identify this fellow?"   
    Nephrite turned to the blonde man who frowned and nodded, as if wondering why Makoto was wasting her time asking him. "Of course," he told her crossly. "He's one of Endymion's guard. Why?"   
    "Just checking," she smiled a little uncomfortably. There was an awkward pause and the girl piped up again. "How's Mina-chan?"   
    He glanced at her narrowly. "Resting. I don't want anyone to disturb her."   
    The young woman stood straighter and glared at him. "You forget who you're speaking to, Artemis," she told him dangerously, and Nephrite looked at her in surprise. There was a brief battle of wills between the pair and Artemis finally looked away.   
    "Forgive me, princess," he murmured.   
    "Princess?" Nephrite asked, stunned.   
    "Jupiter," she replied, a little shy, indicating the green door across from Venus'.   
    Nephrite stepped forward and fell to his knee, hand over his heart. He took her hand and kissed it gently. "Forgive me, my lady, for not giving proper greeting."   
    Her blush spread and she reassured him. "It's okay." She smiled down at him, red dusting the bridge of her nose, and Nephrite rose, still holding her hand. She looked away and noticed Artemis' impatiently tapping foot. The latter gave her a long-suffering glance and she pulled her hand from Nephrite, straightening. "I haven't seen Venus since she got back and she can tell me to get out as well as _you_ can. So if you will please, Artemis, take this gentleman back to the training room for me, I will gladly forget your rudeness just now."   
    Artemis made a disgusted noise and motioned for Nephrite to follow him. With a lingering look back, the latter did.   
    Makoto sighed when they were gone and headed toward Venus' room. She felt a little sorry for exercising her authority so blatantly over the Queen's Advisor, but he really _had_ been rude. _I'll ask Minako why he's in such a bad mood,_ she speculated as Venus' door swung open under her touch.


	8. Vision and Preparation

Rei was at dinner when the vision hit her. She was sitting across from one of Endymion's guards, a dashing young blonde man with blue eyes and a dazzling smile. The Queen was at a meeting, having sent her apologies, the Prince on one side of the table, guards seated along each side by rank. Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune. Endymion, Kunzite, Nephrite, Jadeite, Zoicite.   
    They were discussing the Saturnian Revolution when Rei suddenly gasped and pitched forward, holding her head. Jadeite, across from her, started to reach forward, but Mercury warded off his hand with her own and a sharp shake of the head. Venus promptly poured Mars' goblet full of wine and held it ready. The slender, dark haired girl went limp, dropping her hands, and stirred, breathing heavily. Venus took the girl's shaking hands and wrapped them around the cup of wine.   
    Mars took a deep dreg from the cup and gasped, then took another. The other girls stood by, calmly waiting for her to speak.   
    "Tournament," Mars finally got out, painfully. Her breathing was irregular and harsh. "Someone died."   
    "Ours?" Venus asked, and Mars shook her head helplessly.   
    "Too much fog. I couldn't tell."   
    "Who should go?" Uranus asked, she and Neptune moving over to them.   
    The men watched in bemused curiosity as Mars closed her eyes and sighed, forehead wrinkling in concentration. "Inners only."   
    Uranus scowled. "And I was looking for a good fight." She cracked her knuckles and grinned at Neptune, who only shook her head complaisantly.   
    "Then lets get ready, girls," Venus went into leader-mode, grabbing a roll and ripping a bite out of it with her strong white teeth, striding out of the room with a call over her shoulder for the other three to see her in the training room after dinner.   
    Jupiter groaned and dropped her fork as the door swung shut behind their leader. "Whirlwind Venus is back again."   
    The men looked decidedly confused, and Nephrite finally posed the question. "'Whirlwind?'"   
    Mercury nodded sagely. "She gets like this before every tournament. We understand the importance of it, but Venus goes a little . . . over the top . . . in preparation."   
    "What is the 'tournament' about?" Endymion asked. Since Serenity was still locked to her rooms, he had nothing better to do than listen to their conversation.   
    "Every now and then we have an attempted invasion," Mars brooded into her wine. "We've arranged with the Andromeda Galaxy leaders that any planet under them trying to take the Moon will participate in a tournament – their best against ours. No one's managed to beat us yet." She smiled and pushed her chair back. "Time to train, ladies?"   
    Mercury grimaced delicately and Jupiter suddenly became very ardent about the dessert they were bringing out, sitting down again.   
    Mars tapped her foot and Mercury sighed in acquiescence. She stood with Mars behind Jupiter, who put down the pastry she had been prattling about with a sick look. Turning her head, she glanced up at the pair and muttered, "I hate you."   
    "Excuse us, gentlemen," Mercury curtseyed, "and ladies." The other two gave their goodbyes and they walked out. 

Jupiter tried to smother a jaw-popping yawn, then glanced at Mercury who was leaning against the punching bag, half asleep. "Venus," she whined sleepily. "Can't we go to _bed_ now?"   


    Venus sighed and glanced at the three of them. Mercury, half dead against the punching bag, Jupiter kneeling sleepily on the floor, and Mars who had just sunk down to lay on the cold mats. They had on sweat pants and tank tops, sweat covering them in a fine glowing sheen, hair limp and dirty.   
    "All right, go to bed," she relented. "Be here after breakfast tomorrow."   
    Jupiter roused Mercury and helped her up, muttering, "I think I'll be sick tomorrow."   
    "I heard that," Venus called, unamused, from where she was hefting a limp Mars. "Take Mercury to her room, will you?"   
    "Sure," Jupiter yawned again, lugging her delicate friend along out of the room.   
    Venus followed with Mars and they got the two sleepy girls into their rooms. Venus bid Jupiter a pleasant goodnight, then went back to the training room – she still had to blow out all the lights, and she had left some things in the room.   
    She strode in and stopped. Kunzite was sitting on one of the benches, fiddling with something red. When he saw her, he stood and bowed slightly, trying to hide the object behind him.   
    Her bow. It must have fallen out during training, and she had been too tired to notice it.   
    "What are you doing up so late, General?" she asked as he came carefully forward.   
    "I thought you had gone to bed," he said, eyes sliding around the room as if he expected the other Senshi to pop up at any moment.   
    "I'm about to," she replied softly, glancing around. "I had to take care of the lights."   
    There was a moment of silence in which they both stood awkwardly.   
    "Minako," he moved forward, bringing one hand up to touch her face, but accidentally dropped her bow at the same time. Both of them looked down at it and Kunzite turned beet red. "I, um, was going to give it back . . ." he explained clumsily as she picked it up.   
    Venus looked up at him, bow in her hands, and smiled. Suddenly she wasn't a warrior or a guard of the Silver Millenium – she was a woman, standing next to a very nervous, very charming man. She handed him the bow. "Keep it. I have plenty of them."   
    He looked at her in alarm. "Oh, no, I wasn't – I mean, I didn't –"   
    Minako laughed and threw her arms around his neck. "You're cute," she murmured before sighing and going limp with exhaustion. Kunzite caught her sleeping form, blinking at her sudden collapse, and cradled her to him.   
    "Goodnight, Minako," he murmured, kissing her on the nose and taking her back to her room. As he shut her room door behind himself a few minutes later, his smile was cut off by a pair of very annoyed dark blue eyes and a head of short, ruffled blonde hair.   
    "I hope you have good reason to be in the Senshi Hall," Uranus demanded, arms folded, "because I was having a _very_ good dream." He noted that Neptune was also there, standing behind her taller partner in a modest teal terrycloth robe.   
    "I was taking Venus to her room," he explained, baffled at their sudden appearance. "She fell asleep. How–?"   
    "An alarm goes off in our rooms if someone goes through who isn't supposed to. You're lucky we're the only ones you passed – the others are so tired, they would have killed you." Uranus gave him an odd side glance. "You like Minako?" she asked.   
    His shoulders straightened and he bristled a bit at her antagonism, but nodded.   
    That seemed to calm her a little and Neptune touched her shoulder.   
    "Told you," the aqua-haired woman said, turning to go. "Go on back to bed, Haruka."   
    The blonde woman only grunted and complied.   
    Kunzite shook his head on the way back to the guest rooms. These people were _grumpy_ if you woke them up. 


	9. The Tournament

The day of the Tournament arrived. The invasion from Andromeda contacted the Moon Castle two days before their arrival, crediting Mars' propheting abilities. There was something sly in the message-bearer's countenance, something that sent a dark chill of premonition down Minako's spine.   
    And then they were in the arena, preparing for battle. Minako adjusted the magical chain tied around her like a belt, the Chain of Venus. It was instrument for several of her attacks, and a royal family heirloom. She glanced over where Rei was tucking anti-evil spell papers into her left glove and Ami was mentally going over all of her spells, terrified that she would forget one. Jupiter was picking up the Imperium Crystal Sword because she had accidentally knocked it over.   
    "Knock knock," Serenity peeked in the door, smiling a little sadly. "Almost time. I just wanted to wish you luck."   
    "We'll kick butt," Jupiter grinned, flashing the victory sign. Venus nodded, tightening the bow in her hair nervously. They had trained hard, but she still always felt unprepared going into tournaments. They knew nothing about their opponent. He knew about them, though – that was what frightened Minako. They were so popular that everyone knew about them, without having to research them.   
    No one had ever heard of the monster from Western Andromeda.   
    She picked up her sword, comfortable with its extraordinary weight after years of use, and took a few deep breaths, psyching herself up for the battle.   
    "Serenity?" the Prince stuck his head in the room. "Your mother's asking for you." She went over to him, giving him a peck on the cheek.   
    "Be right there," she smiled, and he bowed out, but four men loitering behind him caught the Princess' attention as she stepped out. "Do you gentlemen need anything?"   
    "Um," Kunzite started, but Jadeite brushed in front of him.   
    "We'd like to see the ladies," he smiled and winked. "To wish them good luck." Serenity's mouth formed a small "oh," and she started to swing the door open for them, but Venus strode forward and stopped them from entering.   
    "No," she ordered, putting a hand out. "You are _not_ distracting my girls before the fight." She shook her head at their pathetic expressions. "Sorry, boys." And shut the door in their faces.   
    "You're girlfriend's tough," Nephrite murmured to Kunzite, smirking in admiration at the closed door and the loud complaints beyond it.   
    "Venus, that was rude!" they heard faintly. There was another voice protesting. After a few brief moments, there was a shout.   
    "_QUIET!_" Venus yelled, "We are _not_ going to do this! There's an unknown enemy waiting for us out there, which we _aren't_ prepared for, and I am not about to let you get distracted now! So sit down and _shut up_!"   
    "Very tough," Jadeite agreed in the ensuing silence.   
    Inside, Venus had sunk to the floor, tears running down her face. Everything about this tournament was terrifying her – it was different from any other they'd been in. The fight against Iron Mouse, the battle with Aluminum Siren, Tigers Eye, and all the other tournaments – they had known what they were up against.   
    The other girls wrapped their arms around her, murmuring encouragement and comfort.   
    "Don't worry, sweetie, we'll be fine," Jupiter assured her. Mars didn't say anything, just got a worried, faraway look in her eye, but no one else noticed it.   
    "It's time, guys," Serenity poked her head in the door.   
    The small group broke apart and Venus wiped her eyes. She was ashamed of herself for breaking down before a tournament, but she did feel decidedly better.   
    They entered the anteroom and straightened themselves one last time before the announcer called them out.   
    The arena was huge. The walls around them, enclosing a large oval dirt field, rose to twice their height, where a transparent golden dome began and covered them from above. Outside of the dome, seats swept around in a gigantic array of murmuring people. On the Moon's side, the Queen, Princess, Senshi, Prince, and his Guards all sat anxiously. On the other side, the grey-skinned, wrinkly Minister of Western Andromeda and his small court.   
    A huge door across the arena swung open and something came out.   
    The Senshi slipped into defensive stances, ready for the beast that came toward the center of the arena. It was brown and wrinkly, but not dry – it was saturated with some strange, potent moisture that made the girls hesitant to approach it.   
    "_Begin!_" a voice commanded from above, and the four split up and surrounded the creature with a smoothness as if they had practiced it.   
    "Supreme . . . THUNDER!" Jupiter shouted, sending a disk of green energy hurtling at the creature. From the other side, while its attention was on the attack, Mars dashed up and threw one of her papers at it, shouting "RYU TAI SAN!" It didn't do anything, though Jupiter's disk cut a small slash in its arm. The Senshi had planned this part already.   
    "Mercury!" Venus yelled, catching the creature's attention. It drew back and . . . spit at her.   
    She jumped out of the way, looking back to see the green blob quickly eating through the dirt it had hit. "It's acid!" she yelled, jumping nimbly out of the way of another spurt.   
    Mercury, meanwhile, was chanting softly. As the creature turned to go after Jupiter, she shouted "Mercury . . . BUBBLES!" and spread her arms wide as a thick mist covered the area.   
    "Oak . . . EVOLUTION!" the cry rang out, muffled by the heavy fog, and a flash of magic marked Jupiter's postion. Mercury had her visor on, noting that Makoto leapt out of the way just as she finished her attack, and was busy monitoring the creature's movements. She started to circle around toward Venus.   
    Mars was not allowed to use fire magic while the fog was up, because it would disperse too much of the moisture in the air, so her part in helping was seriously impaired, especially since her charms didn't work on him.   
    Mercury approached her and whispered, "It's over near Jupiter, so move over there . . ." she trailed off as its gaze snapped to Venus, who was pacing carefully on the edge of the mist, waiting for Mercury to get to her. "Oh Selene," Mercury cursed, realization hitting her like a hammer. "Run," she told Mars softly, and started at a mad dash toward Venus. "_Run!_" she screamed, "It can see in the fog! It can _see you_!"   
    Venus' head snapped in her direction, gaze wide and blind in the thick air, as the creature drew back to spew acid at her. She wasn't fast enough, Mercury realized as she ran, but increased her speed and prayed.   
    Venus found somebody slamming into her, knocking her out of the way as a trail of hissing, viscous liquid hit. They both fell to the thinner edge of the fog and Venus saw that Mercury had been hit, badly. Her entire left side was already being eaten away by the acid.   
    She cried out.   
    "Shabon . . . Spray." The whisper came faintly in Venus' ear and a wave of water suddenly poured over them both – partially drenching Venus, but, more importantly, rinsing away the acid from Mercury's body. "It sees through the mist," she whispered painfully, and Venus nodded, picking up the visor from where it had fallen and putting it on, catching the beast getting ready for another attack. "Venus Crescent Beam!" she yelled, shooting the golden flare through the incoming acid, deflecting it from the pair. She leapt up and heard a call.   
    "Mars Flame Sniper!" a red glow shot over the creature's shoulder and it whirled on Mars, spitting madly. It missed, but regained its bearings as the mist started to dissipate.   
    "Supreme . . . THUNDER!"   
    The creature roared as a sizzling bolt ripped into its shoulder and turned, lashing out with one clawed hand, moving toward Jupiter, who was running.   
    Easily distracted and slow, Venus noted as it reached out to try and snag Jupiter, clipping her shoulder.   
    "Venus Love-Me Chain!" she caught its paw and yanked, but wasn't strong enough to pull it off balance and found it lumbering toward her. She nabbed her sword and slashed at it, intending to distract it from Mercury's position so it wouldn't attack and hit the injured girl. Jupiter sent a wave of electricity at it so that Venus could get away.   
    Venus threw her chain around it again, temporarily immobilizing it while Mars and Jupiter hit it from either side. It roared in anger and pain, but, judging by the damage done, it would take a lot more time and spells to waste it, and there was too much chance of one of them getting killed by then.   
    In a flash, as it whirled toward Jupiter, Venus was racing toward the beast, sword held ready. She leapt, high, and was coming down just as a fireball roared past the creature's head – making it turn and look straight at her.   
    Venus knew, as she descended and it's head reared back, that there was no dodging. So she did the only thing she could to protect her friends. As it unleashed a violent spout of acid, she brought the Silver Imperium Sword down and sheathed it in the creature's throat – taking the corrosive liquid full-on.   
    It hit her in the face, splashing onto her chest, arms, and legs, quickly eating through Mercury's goggles. She would have screamed but for the thought of that burning, hungry stuff getting into her mouth and throat. Through the pain, she felt the sword hit its mark, and the acidic flow stopped.   
    Venus dropped to the ground, her shoes melting in the vile green puddle at her feet, before a great rushing wash of water poured over her body, cleansing her from the deadly, painful green stuff. And so, she fell. Face eaten away, hair almost completely gone, throat marked but surprisingly intact, blinded, her arms and feet useless. Her chest was now somewhat flatter – if it had gone on but a bit more, the acid would have eaten it's way to her lungs.   
    But she was alive. The other three girls, noting the Moon banner being hung, indicating their victory, picked up Venus and carried her painfully toward their side of the arena. 

"Come on . . ." the Moon Queen was getting jittery, watching the girls coming toward them. "A little closer . . ." She was frightened that Venus would die before they got there, and rightfully so. Blood was covering the girl, splattering in various-sized drops to the loose dirt of the arena yard. It was soaking through the uniforms of the other three, coming painfully forward. Jupiter's shoulder was torn and she was limping. Tears trailed down Mercury's dirty, strained face, blood coursing down her left side. She was particularly paler than the others, and for a moment the Moon Queen felt a flash of fear for her as well. Mars alone seemed most unharmed, but her face was showing the emotional turmoil going on – her, almost completely whole, and her friends suffering of horrible injuries.   


    "Can't we go out and help them?" Jadeite was asking, almost bouncing in place with nervousness. It was agony watching the slow progress of the four senshi.   
    "No," the Moon Queen answered firmly. "They have to make it back themselves. They forfeit the tournament if anyone steps out there to help."   
    Their pace quickened abruptly, Jupiter casting quick, apprehensive glances at Venus' face.   
    "Finally," the Moon Queen breathed as Kunzite stared in horror at Venus, tears pricking his eyes. "Stand back!" she ordered the group beside her, and everyone fell away from the door as the girls reached it and came through, the Queen holding a clear, shining crystal over them.   
    As the girls came through, they were healed. Their bodies were replenished and the Moon Princess, suddenly seeming to realize something, blushed and bustled the men quickly out, shutting the door on them. The Prince and his guards looked at each other, blinking.   
    "Wha–?"   
    Endymion shrugged and looked at the door, waiting. Soon the Princess came out, looking pleasant but embarrassed. She smiled at them, but didn't say anything as she hurried off.   
    Not long after, the doctor stuck her head out. She was a pretty little middle-aged Mercurian woman, who adjusted her glasses at the men and sniffed, glaring around at them. Finally, she pointed at Kunzite and Zoicite, and said "You and you, come in here."   
    When they entered, they saw immediately why Serenity had rushed them out. Minako was lying full out on the floor, unconscious and frighteningly white. But what was first noticeable was that the crystal had not replaced any clothing that the acid had eaten away – but that the crystal _had_ fully regenerated all flesh that had been lost. One of the girls had tried to keep Minako's modesty by arranging her blonde hair to partially cover her up, but it didn't work very well.   
    Kunzite and Zoicite averted their eyes politely, flushing, and caught a movement as Ami turned red and made sure her left side was hidden from view. Apparently, her clothing had been inappropriately disposed of, too.   
    "You're the right blood types," the doctor pursed her lips, "and two of the girls need blood." She gave a little shove to Kunzite in Minako's direction and took Zoicite over to Ami, who was staring at them in horror from behind a hard, high-backed chair.   
    "Come on, girl, don't be modest. It's not like you have anything the boy hasn't seen before," the doctor told Ami as Zoicite flushed in wild protest, but Ami was frowning across the room, at Kunzite and Minako.   
    They both followed her gaze and blinked at Kunzite's smooth, gleaming back as he gazed down at Minako's face and stroked her hair, murmuring to her. His shirt was draped over her like a blanket, reaching from throat to hips and emphasizing the head of height between the pair.   
    Zoicite looked back to Ami, eyes flashing understanding as her eyes flit unconsciously to him and then down, her cheeks burning. He stepped toward the chair and smiled gently. "Would you like my shirt, lady?"   
    She looked up at him, startled, then shook her head in nervousness – but her eyes, darting longingly at the grey covering his chest, gave her away.   
    Zoicite slipped the cloth over his head, baring a lightly tanned stomach and shoulders, and handed it to the slender maiden, who accepted it gingerly, eyes speaking her thanks and relief.   
    "Good," the doctor said, pleased that the foolishness was over, and went to work setting up the transfer tubes for Zoicite and Ami, then hurried over to set up Minako and Kunzite, whom she was more worried about.   
    It stung. Zoicite winced as he watched the blood pumping from his arm into hers, and glanced up at her, trying to distract himself. She peeked at him, but her eyes darted away and a blush rose on her cheeks as she looked wildly for something else to set her attention on.   
    "What?" he asked, a little amused by her reaction to him.   
    "What what?" she replied, looking hard at a chink in the plain grey wall.   
    "Why won't you look at me?" When she glanced at him again, he tried to keep her gaze. "Is it because I'm ugly and you're too polite to tell me, or . . .?"   
    She looked at him, aghast, before catching the teasing glint in his eyes. "No," she frowned. "It's just . . ." she flushed again and scowled, looking away. "The immodesty of this situation," she said stiffly, and he wondered briefly if it hurt to force the words out of such tight lips.   
    "Oh," was all he said, a little disappointed. "Okay. I just thought, maybe . . ."   
    "What?" she asked, shooting him a suspicious glare.   
    He smiled up, a little sheepish. "That you kind of liked seeing men with their shirts off."   
    Ami was scandalized, staring at him, before turning away in embarrassment and finding herself looking at Kunzite's bare back. She groaned, half-crying, and let her head droop, looking at a safer spot – her lap.   
    "Of course she likes it," Zoicite turned, surprised, as Makoto settled onto the floor beside him, looking positively impish. "She's just too embarrassed to admit it, aren't you Ami-chan?"   
    The blue-haired girl only scowled at her lap and refused to answer.   
    "Yup." Makoto winked at Zoicite. "Don't worry, just keep talking to her, and she'll talk back eventually."   
    He smiled and nodded.   
    Across the room, Minako was just waking up. Her eyes fluttered and she blinked a little before getting Kunzite and Rei into focus.   
    "Hey, Mina! You okay?" Rei asked, peering closely at her friend, who only blinked at her. "The Queen healed you, but you lost a lot of blood, so the doctor got Kunzite here to lend you some."   
    "Oh," Minako let the pearl of wisdom fall from her lips, eyes catching Kunzite's and holding them. They gazed at each other for a long while until the Moon Princess returned with decent clothing for the girls and the doctor approved of the amounts of blood transferred, unhooking the men and shooing them out. Minako, as Serenity helped her dress, realized why Kunzite had been shirtless and was touched, wishing she could thank him. But she didn't get a chance, since she got dizzy and fainted the moment she tried to stand on her own, causing quite a furor among her friends. 


	10. Girl Talk

"What are you guys doing?" Kunzite slipped up beside his friends, several days after the Tournament, who were hidden behind a clump of bushes and some trees. They shushed him, even though he had whispered, and pointed. Kunzite glanced over the bushes and blinked.   
    "Well _I_ don't see why we have to receive the Star ambassador every time he visits," Princess Jupiter was saying, her hands working the soil around a flourishing rose bush. "The Queen can do quite well without us." She was elbow-deep in the dirt, not seeming to mind the stains being inflicted on her dress or the smudge on her cheek.   
    "We represent the other planets," Princess Mars replied idly from the bench. She was half-lying on it with feet drawn up on the seat and elbows supporting her, her red Grecian-cut gown pooling about those legs. "It would be rude if we weren't there – besides, our parents are too lazy to send ambassadors to do these things when we're already here."   
    Jupiter just scowled at her work and attacked the weeds with renewed ferocity.   
    Princess Mercury, who sat on the clean grass next to Jupiter, nodded. "She's right, Makoto. We can't pick and choose what duties we fulfill." Jupiter pointed and Mercury fell silent, bending forward – her cupped hands filled with water, which she poured on the rosebush roots.   
    "I wasn't saying we _should_," Jupiter lay back to rest, chest rising and falling quickly. "I was just commenting on the futility of it."   
    "I can live with that," Mars said, craning her neck to follow a bird across the sky.   
    Princess Venus sighed. She had been pacing absently behind Mars' bench and thinking of the new threat made to the Moon throne. It seemed as if everyone wanted to take over the Moon, and no one felt like giving the Senshi a break.   
    "Well," Jupiter sat up, and her mischievous tone caught the pacing Princess' attention. "I think I'd like to hear a little bit about Ami's new friend," she twisted to lay on her stomach, hand propping her chin up to look at the startled Mercury.   
    "What?!" Mercury blushed, feigning innocence.   
    "That Guard of the Prince's," Jupiter prompted. "Come on, Ami, we've all seen how he looks at you. What's the deal? Spill."   
    "It's nothing . . ." she insisted.   
    "Zoicite?" Venus paused and looked at Mercury, who nodded shyly. Venus smiled and winked. "Go for it – he's a keeper."   
    Behind the bushes, Zoicite blushed, Nephrite clapping him silently on the shoulder.   
    "So, Ami?"   
    "I," she began, then blushed and turned away. "He's nice, I guess." She fiddled with a piece of grass and sighed, slumping. "It's not that I don't _like_ him, it's just," she lay back miserably, "I'm _terrified_ of him."   
    Venus knelt beside her and smiled gently. "He won't bite, Ami."   
    "I know," Mercury moaned. "He's sweet, but it's just so . . . scary."   
    Venus stroked the silken blue strands absently. "I know." She sighed, mind wandering to a pale, blue-eyed General. There was a breathless silence over the area for a few moments.   
    "What about General Nephrite, Makoto?" Mars inquired softly.   
    Jupiter's head fell back in ecstacy. "He's _dreamy_," she sighed and smiled, settling back and putting her head on Mercury's stomach, who laughed because Jupiter's hair tickled her. Glaring at the laughing girl because she had ruined her daydream, Jupiter flipped around and started to tickle Mercury.   
    Mercury shrieked and managed to gasp out a distressed "Mako!" between her giggles and those talented, torturous fingers at her sides.   
    Venus was absently stalking the small area again, drawing the other girls' attention.   
    "I was thinking," Jupiter prodded. "What about you and Kunzite, Minako?"   
    The blonde girl froze, standing in front of Mars' bench with her back to the others. She picked up her skirts carefully and put one foot on the bench, tossing a cool look and faint smile over her shoulder. "_That_ is none of your business." She stood up on the bench, Mars looking at her apprehensively, and climbed onto the back of the bench, trying to walk along the precarious edge. Mars' eyes went wide and she gripped the edge of the long seat as it tipped over and tumbled both girls into the grass. A disheveled Mars glared at Venus as Jupiter helped set the bench back up, Mercury smiling quietly at them all.   
    Jupiter shoved Venus over on the bench and smiled at Mercury. "So, Ami, what do you think of Zoicite's body?"   
    "What?!" Mercury was taken aback, a blush rising up her throat at the thought. "I . . . I . . ." she floundered, then regained herself and answered primly, "I haven't seen his body."   
    Jupiter smirked. "You've seen some of it. You've seen him shirtless! So, what did you think?"   
    Zoicite was promptly blushing as Nephrite grinned and nudged him (still happy about Jupiter's favorable earlier comment).   
    "I . . . I . . . You . . . You're . . ."   
    "Heartless and inhumane," Venus supplied, smiling, her knees drawn up on the bench.   
    "Quite!" Mercury nodded fervently. "Thank you!"   
    Ignoring the thanks, Venus looked at Jupiter, holding her giggles in with admirable control. "And Mercury is prim, proper, and very much likes Zoicite with his shirt off."   
    "And _you_ like Kunzite with _his_ shirt off," Jupiter turned on the blonde princess, who was stretching her arms high above her head with a lazy, contented look.   
    "Of course," Venus replied easily, laying her head in Jupiter's lap and picking at the grass by their bench. She fell silent and meditative, her easy smile slipping into something much sadder. The whole area felt her change of mood and reacted to it. Jupiter ran the tips of her fingers through Venus' soft hair and Mercury crawled over to them, taking Venus' hand. Mars sat on the far edge of the bench, by Venus' feet, and touched an ankle.   
    "And he's nothing like Ace," Jupiter said, voice low and reflective of the mood.   
    Venus snorted, her voice slipping into something bitter and frightening. "No, he's nothing like Ace." Her eyes were glazed and she gave a humorless laugh. "Probably not as good a lover, either." She looked up at Jupiter. "Earth men never _are_ as good as Venusians, you know." The men in the bushes were silent, none of them looking at Kunzite.   
    "Well, he's dead now," Jupiter replied, stroking Venus's hair as she might a child's.   
    "Maybe," Venus corrected. "He was chased to the cliffs over the ocean and jumped off – nobody could _prove_ he died." She took a deep breath and her voice softened. "The worst thing was . . . he was so gentle. Kind. He . . ." she chuckled, "doted. He was like a little puppy in love . . . I liked him."   
    "More than Kunzite?"   
    Venus blushed and looked away, embarrassed. "I don't know!"   
    "What if he's not as good a lover?" Jupiter teased.   
    Venus sat up and glared over her shoulder. "That wouldn't matter if I loved him!"   
    "Do you? Or are you going to let your history with Ace get in the way?" Mars asked, and the girls fell silent, eyes turning to Venus. She flushed deeply.   
    "Why do we have to keep talking about my life?" she said in an oddly strained voice, getting off the bench before they could pull her back and started to walk away.   
    Mars hopped up, angry, and called after Venus. "You have to let go of Ace sometime, Mina!"   
    Venus stopped. When she turned around and met Mars' angry, worried gaze, her blue eyes were full of tears and sorrow. She opened her mouth a little, trying to get something out of it, but she was trembling and words seemed to elude her, so she whirled and fled.   
    "Rei," Jupiter was standing, looking in concern after her blonde friend's retreating form.   
    "Don't _even_ start," Mars spun around, her dark eyes furious and filled with tears. The lines of the her pale face were etched in worry. "You _know_ it's not healthy to keep that with her for so long."   
    "The man she loved tried to _kill_ her, Rei, how long would _you_ keep it?" Jupiter snapped back.   
    Mars stepped forward fervently. "But do we know if she even loved him!?"   
    "She's Minako," Mercury said in her quiet, sincere way, looking meditatively to the grass where she sat by the bench, and the other two fell silent to hear her. "She's the Senshi of Love, the Princess of Venus, the planet of love. I'd say that she would love more deeply and more truly than any of us."   
    "I want to help her," Mars replied, tears falling from her cheeks to the grass. "But she won't let us! She won't let it go! And I hate seeing her in pain!"   
    "We all do," Jupiter said softly, putting her hand on Mars' arm.   
    "Maybe there's someone here who can," Mercury said, looking at the pair without seeing them. "As long as he doesn't break her heart, too."   
    "Kunzite," Jupiter murmured, and there was a brief silence.   
    "Come now," Mercury stood, brushing herself off briskly. "It's almost dinner time."   
    The other two nodded and headed toward the castle, but Mercury loitered a bit, checking Jupiter's work on the plants until the other two girls were out of sight, and she straightened, looking toward the trees and bushes nearby, raising her voice a bit.   
    "I hope you four found some useful information today, because next time I won't neglect to mention if we have eavesdroppers." Her eyes swept the expanse of bush one more time before she turned to go toward the castle.   
    The four men stood from their hiding places, watching her go.   
    "So, she likes you shirtless, eh, Zoi?" Jadeite asked calmly.   
    "Guess so."   
    "I'm almost jealous."   
    They all headed for dinner. 

Kunzite stood by the window of his room, fingering a piece of red fabric and allowing the nighttime breeze to lift light strands of hair away from his face. He was thinking about a young woman on another side of the castle, wondering if she slept well, quietly, with golden hair spread about her body, or tossed and groaned with nightmares, grimacing and lashing out against phantasmic foes, legs tangling wildly in the blankets.   


    He was worried. That "Ace" the princess had spoken of was getting to him, fraying his nerves. What exactly happened with this man? Had she really loved him? Was she still harboring feelings for him?   
    What had it been like to lie with her?   
    Kunzite growled softly and clenched the red ribbon in his hand, very much disliking the idea that Minako had been with another man. If he could, he would go and rip this Ace's arms out, slash his belly to pieces . . .   
    Following the violent train of thought for a bit, Kunzite felt much better and more qualified for sleep. In lying down, however, the image of a beautiful blonde woman hounded him long into the night, and made his slumber uneasy. 


	11. Flee

It was at breakfast that Rei felt something was wrong. She stood so quickly that her chair fell backward, clattering into the middle of Lord Jadeite's joke.   
    Rei didn't care. Her dark eyes were wide and unfocused, and there was a heavy, foreboding pressure sitting on her chest. She turned and flew toward Senshi Hall, hoping her premonition was nothing more than a lack of sleep, but knowing it wasn't.   
    She didn't even notice the small group following her. 

Minako got dressed before there was even a ray of light in her window that morning, doing her routine stretches. It was in the middle of these that there was a knock on her door. Minako was a bit surprised, since no one else was usually up so early, but, curious, she let the man in.   


    "Artemis, what's wrong?" she frowned, watching him sit carefully on the edge of the bed, looking as if he'd hop back up and start pacing at any moment.   
    He winced at the floor and Minako had the vague fear that he was going to cry. "I don't know what's wrong with me, Mina-chan," he whispered hoarsely. "I know something is, but . . . I don't know what to do about it."   
    Minako stood silently, listening to him with concern and a bit of fear. She didn't know what he was talking about, and hated the idea of her beloved guardian having problems.   
    "I loved your mother, Mina-chan, I did, and I don't know what's happening to me. I've never had such a tough time remembering her before. It's like, lately, something's bringing her so close to the surface of my memory . . . all the time . . ." he trailed off and Minako brought a hand to her mouth, sinking beside him and putting an arm around his shoulders.   
    "I didn't know," she whispered, letting him hold her back and cry into her chest. She felt so . . . helpless. Artemis had raised her, and was practically like her own father. It was disorienting having him break down like this – and very scary.   
    After a minute or two, Minako was surprised to feel his grip on her change to something more intimate. He kissed her neck and murmured, "My Queen."   
    "Artemis," Minako pushed at him gently, more than a little disturbed, "it's me, not mom."   
    "My Queen," he repeated, eyes glazed and . . . off. He reached for her, but she pushed him back a little more.   
    "Artemis," she said firmly, beginning to get very frightened. "It's me, Minako."   
    "Sh," he said, ignoring her. He had her by the shoulders and Minako began to cry, talking to him, telling him she wasn't her mother. 

It was not long later and Minako was curled on the edge of her bed, clutching the post and crying. There was blood on the blanket, but it wasn't hers. She had had to knock Artemis out to stop him, and there was a nasty gash on his head that she had, to the best of her ability, bandaged. She looked at him, her eyes red and puffy, and made a very important decision. 

When Rei got to Minako's room, followed by a small assembly that set off the alarms in every room they passed, she threw open the door and found Artemis sprawled on the bed, a pillow under his head and makeshift bandage around a long, nasty gash at his hairline.   


    "Artemis," she shook him, dark hair falling on either side of the unconscious man. "Artemis!" she cried, becoming frantic. The pit in her stomach widened as she looked wildly around the room, not seeing Minako anywhere. "_Goddess,_" she sobbed, clutching Artemis' shirt in her pale, slender fingers.   
    "Rei," Makoto reached her, gripping the girl's shoulders, "let go of him, sweetie."   
    Rei realized that her fingers were turning white from the hard grip, and slowly released Artemis' shirt. Ami moved to look at his wound as Makoto urged the dark-haired girl toward the foot of the bed.   
    "Rei, what's wrong, where's Mina-chan?"   
    Rei had covered her face with her hands and was rocking back and forth, crying, hair swaying with her body. "Oh Goddess – oh _Selene_!" Her voice was raw and broken, jagged with horror.   
    Kunzite stared, a deep knife of terror cutting through his gut. "What happened?" he whispered. Kunzite was a man of calm and knowledge – renowned for keeping his head in emergencies and accused of inhumanity because of his natural propensity for cold calculation – and he had never been so frightened.   
    "Step aside," someone said quietly, and the group parted to let the Queen through. She touched Rei's shoulder and embraced the girl, softly ordering everyone out but Luna, who was fussing worriedly over Artemis' prone form. She held Rei for a long time, discreetly touching the Silver Imperium Crystal to heal Artemis' wound. Finally, she pulled away from the dark-haired princess. Rei looked a mess, hair sticking in damp clumps to her face, eyes red and puffy, lips trembling, and cheeks blotched. "Where's Minako, dear?" the Queen asked.   
    "Gone," Rei moaned.   
    "Where?"   
    "I don't know. Just gone. Run away because of that . . . that . . ." she couldn't find a word bad enough, so settled on sending Artemis a scalding glare.   
    "What happened? Do you know?"   
    "He . . ." she grimaced, turning her face away, "tried to force her."   
    "No!" Luna cried, angry. "He wouldn't have done that, your majesty!" She was defensive, protective, angry, but there was a tremor of plea in her voice and gaze. She held to Artemis' senseless hand with tenacious faith.   
    The Queen only sat beside Rei, absently stroking the girl's hair, and thought. Finally, she roused herself to a decision. "Let's wait until he awakens, and hear the whole story."   
    "Yes." 


	12. To the Earth

"Janie! Janie, come here!" an old woman shouted out the back door, shooting an almost-blind glance about the wide yard. Soon a young woman trotted into view, arms full of wood and skirt covered with sawdust and wood chips.   
    "Janie!" a young man slipped past the old woman and took the load, shooting a displeased look at the young woman. "You shouldn't be chopping wood. You know I can take care of that for you!"   
    The young woman shook out her skirts and smiled. "You worry too much. Besides, Maria wanted to start lunch and you don't usually come until noon." She shot a curious blue look at him and the young man blushed. She really was a beautiful girl. Bright blue eyes, a ready smile, and long golden hair put up in a braided pattern that kept it out of the way while she worked and thoroughly complimented her fresh, pretty features. "Why did you come early?"   
    The young man licked his lips nervously and arranged the new wood on a small pile by the door. "You said it yourself – Maria wanted an early start. She asked me to come by early when I was here yesterday."   
    "Don't talk about me as if I'm not here," the old woman glared at him from her thousands of wrinkles.   
    The young woman laughed and kissed several wrinkles on the old, withered cheek, surprising and pleasing the old lady. "Of course, dear Maria."   
    And yet, there was something different about her. A girl that chopped wood and came out of nowhere -- no one had ever seen her before, but she had just shown up in town almost a year ago with nothing but herself and an old yellow dress on. Not even a pair of shoes or a hair tie. Wild, some people thought. Others speculated that she had run from some disgrace – but as her stomach remained flat and no angry husbands came to drag her back, rumors died down and the quiet, sunny girl slipped into town life – if not with complete ease, then only she knew of the difficulties.   
    "Are you going to the festival tomorrow?" the young man asked, tossing pale hair nervously from his eyes. The young woman looked at him fondly, reminiscing a little in his uncanny resemblance to a young soldier she had known on Venus.   
    "Yes," she smiled softly and turned to go in, sweeping by the old woman.   
    The young man wistfully watched her go.   
    "You're quite dumb," the old woman pinched her mouth at him.   
    "What?" he asked, startled.   
    "You're dumb. I know you like the girl, _everyone_ knows you like the girl, but you just stand there gaping instead of doing anything about it!" The old woman banged her hand against the doorframe in annoyance and waved him sharply in. "Fine, fine, get in there, dumb one."   
    "Well what do you suggest I do?" he asked, a little annoyed but more embarrassed.   
    "There's going to be games at the festival. Pick the one that seems to impress her the most and win it for her." The little old woman smiled to herself as his eyes brightened in interest.   
    Later that day, Minako was in the town store, floating gracefully down the rough-shelved aisles, looking at the items and humming cheerfully to herself. The sunlight sifted in the windows and glinted gold off her hair – the storekeeper, the same young man from earlier, watched her nervously from behind the counter.   
    A group of twittering women came in, ranging from a little below Minako's age to women greying through their tightly coiled hair.   
    "Janie," one of the girls approached Minako, whose smile brightened at the address. "What are you doing here?"   
    "Maria forgot to ask for more flour earlier, so she sent me out to get some," Minako beamed. She liked the full, healthy, homey scent of the store. It reminded her of when Makoto would take over the kitchens and cook all day and night.   
    Minako's eyes flashed sadness at the reminder of home, turning away so that the girl would not notice her pain, and reminded herself, again, that she would return to them.   
    But not yet.   
    No, no, the sting of her memories was still too fresh.   
    "Are you going to the festival tomorrow?"   
    "Yes, of course," Minako smiled sunnily, pushing the unhappy thoughts to the back of her mind. "It should be fun."   
    "Uh huh," another girl came up, smiling in fierce cheer. "And I hear that some devilishly handsome men will be there."   
    "Ooh!" the first girl squealed, "maybe we'll be able to find a man for you, Janie!"   
    Minako laughed, throwing her head back in honest amusement, and the girls smiled at her. "Oh, I'm sure that's okay, thanks," she said, still smiling. The young man behind the counter had become pensive, nervously rearranging some items on display.   
    "I bet she has a man somewhere," one of the older women winked, "back in the city or something, a trail of broken hearts!"   
    There were chuckles all around, but Minako only shook her head amiably, going over and lifting a bag of flour from the corner. "I'll take this, Jezibiah," she smiled and the young man flushed wildly, fumbling with the money box.   
    "_Do_ you have a man, Janie?" a younger girl asked curiously.   
    Minako's eyes took on a far-off look. She shrugged and drudged up a bright smile that did not quite erase the lingering sadness in her gaze. "I used to."   
    "What was he like?!"   
    Minako laughed at the girl's exuberance and the sorrow _did_ leave her face. "That is none of your business," she smiled, paid for the flour, and walked out, ignoring the loud protests behind her. The sunlight hit her face and hair; she hefted the flour further onto her hip and looked up, greeting the light with refreshed cheer.   
    It was going to be a beautiful day. 

Minako was dreaming of a great dark place – smooth black floor and an ebony sky. Her arms were grasped by warm, rough hands and she turned to face a man she hadn't seen in years.   


    "Ace," she murmured, and his lips descended to hers.   
    "Janie? Janie! Girl!" Minako felt someone shaking her and she broke from Ace reluctantly. She opened her eyes – and was looking at Maria standing over her bed in the darkness. "Janie, what's wrong?" she squinted down at Minako.   
    "Wrong?" she murmured, her voice sleep-laden.   
    "You were thrashing around so bad, you woke me up." She paused. "Bad dream?"   
    Minako sat up and put a hand to her head. "Yeah, I guess," she murmured. She frowned. "I don't really remember it."   
    Maria patted her hand. "That's okay. Go on back to sleep – we're going to the festival early tomorrow and you'll need your rest."   
    Minako smiled and did as she was told. She didn't dream again that night. 


	13. Festival

The festival was held in the capital of the kingdom – a bright and busy city that bustled through with life and laughter. It was a week's ride from Minako's present village, and they stayed with one of Maria's nephews, a polite man with thinning brown hair, a bushy mustache, and a round, rosy, dutiful wife. The couple was fairly well off, but had no children and thus were happy to have some new faces in the house.   
    "Jezibiah!" Minako gasped, her eyes brightening as she grabbed the young man's arm. "Look!" she cried breathlessly, and he looked.   
    And winced. "Pig wrestling," he affirmed. The rest of their party had gone their own ways, to booths and contests and shops.   
    "Look at what you get if you win," she smiled merrily, ignoring his pathetic attempts to steer her away from the attraction. Giving up, Jezibiah sighed and looked. There was a lovely silver hand-mirror on a velvet pillow, shining and glinting in the sunlight.   
    An idea had begun to form in Minako's mind as soon as she'd seen the mirror. It was a beautiful creation – something Serenity would definitely appreciate. She licked her lips in anticipation, wanting to get the mirror as a make-up gift for her Princess.   
    "Let's find something else, okay Janie?" Jezibiah begged, but she only patted his arm and told him to stay put.   
    "I'll be right back!" she told him brightly and hurried over to the man in charge of the contest, standing just behind him. It took a moment for him to notice her because he was watching the young man fighting the wild boar in the muddy pen – he wasn't looking too good.   
    "What?" the man asked gruffly, raising an eyebrow curiously at the pretty girl's cheerful smile.   
    "I want to beat your pig," she stated quite calmly, not seeming to realize how dangerous a wild boar could be.   
    The man laughed. "Honey, you go on home and cook or sew or whatever you little women-folk do, but leave the dangerous stuff to the men!"   
    Minako opened her mouth, frowning at the man, but Jezibiah pushed in front of her before she could say anything. "Of course she won't go in there, sir, I will. I'd like to try and win that mirror." He smiled and the man gave him a funny look, but shrugged and started explaining the terms of the contest. Kill the boar and win the mirror. Minako heard him and noticed that the last contestant was scrambling out of the pen.   
    Seeing that Jezibiah and the man were still talking, Minako shrugged and hopped lightly over the fence and into the mud. She frowned at her shoes, but kept half an eye on the suddenly wary boar.   
    _This should be fun,_ she smiled and picked up her skirts.   
    The boar charged.   
    "_Janie!_" Jezibiah cried, terrified, and Minako noticed with alarm that he was coming into the pen to save her. His thoughts were on her -- on protecting her, saving her, from that wild beast. She was too delicate! She was going to be killed!   
    _No! That idiot's going to get himself hurt!_ She frowned and concentrated on the boar, which was coming at her very fast. With one quick jerk of her skirts and a mild twist, she caught the boar in the head with her heel and knocked it into the mud, jerking her skirts again so that they wouldn't get dirty and grabbing the boar's tusks with both hands, twisting its head hard to the left and feeling its neck snap.   
    By the time Jezibiah reached her, the boar was quite dead.   
    As she stood, though, she didn't have time to register everyone's astonished faces because a glint of retreating silver in the crowd caught her eye.   
    "Pick up the mirror for me," she told a gaping Jezibiah as she started to move and then run after the flash of silver she had seen.   
    It couldn't have been . . . could it? It was Earth, after all, and he did live here . . .   
    Minako's mind went through all the stunned speculations, but her heart kept repeating one word as she ran, gaze darting into nooks and coves . . .   
    _Kunzite._   
    Her heart was hammering, her knees shaking, but all she could think about was that he was there, in the same city, at the same festival as her. It wasn't that she wanted to see him – rather, she _had_ to. It was some great, undeniable impulse that drew her after that flash of silver, and one that she, as the young Goddess of Love, could not deny.   
    How long had it been? A year? More?   
    Minako was startled from her thoughts as a rough, callused hand grabbed her arm and drew her into the small alcove beside an inn. She was pulled ungracefully up against a strong chest, but she did not fight. Somehow, through it all, she knew.   
    "It's been a while, princess," his dynamic voice rumbled.   
    "Yes," Minako flushed, looking up into his pale eyes.   
    "We need to talk." His gaze was hard and cold, but she couldn't look away from it.   
    "Yes."   
    Kunzite nodded and turned, keeping one hand firmly on her arm as he led her through a side door into the inn. Soon he had her in one of the rooms, barring the door behind them and closing the curtains to the only window. She sat on the bed and for a few moments neither said anything. Minako noted the bag in the corner and thought that this must be his room.   
    "What happened?" he finally asked, drawing a stool up for himself. His gaze didn't waver, but it was getting harder for her to meet it.   
    "I don't know what you mean," she started, but he only stood up and glared down at her.   
    "Something happened to you, Minako, but the Queen sent us home before I could hear anything, and I want to know if I have to kill that man now!"   
    "Don't you touch Artemis!" Minako cried wildly, the image of her mentor being harmed rising up before her and attacking her with pain. It brought back how she had to hurt him to keep him from her, and she felt the tears well up behind her eyes. "Please," she finally whispered, "please, let's not talk about it."   
    Kunzite's gaze fell and he stood there for a long, torturous moment. "Fine." His voice was clipped and she knew that the subject wasn't over with, only postponed.   
    Minako turned her face from him and clutched at the rough blanket beneath her.   
    "We miss you, Minako," he breathed, pain and longing laced beneath the honesty of his voice. She turned to look at him and they were just gazing at each other, her youthful cheer giving way to something much older and wiser, meeting his despair head-on and matching it, blue on blue with no insulating anger or pretense. Kunzite moved forward and bent, placing his hands on either side of her on the bed. "_I_ miss you."   
    Minako looked at him, wide-eyed, and then allowed her eyes to close as his lips descended on hers. 

The sunlight was creeping in through the curtains and Minako watched its play on the wall. She was stroking the tips of her fingers through Kunzite's hair, absently, languidly, ignoring the scratchiness of the blankets wrapped around her bare body.   


    "You'll come back with me now."   
    Minako turned, a little startled at the man beside her. He was looking up at her through drowsy lids, an indefinable expression of male satisfaction in his face as he surveyed the woman beside him. She had grown in their year apart, gaining curves where before there had been only the hints of approaching womanhood. Even now, he knew that she was not as developed as she would be in a few years, and he looked forward to the future with an eagerness surprising even to himself.   
    "What?" she asked, a little flustered.   
    "You'll come back with me. To my home, and . . ." he touched her arm lightly, stroking her hair in a way almost comparable to uncertainty, "perhaps we could marry?" He wouldn't meet her eyes and there was a peculiar inflection in his voice that left Minako breathless with its insecurity.   
    He finally looked up, but she didn't answer, only kissed him again, deeply, running her hands lightly over his shoulders.   
    "I love you," he murmured much later, covered in a light sheen of exhaustion, and went to sleep holding her close to his chest.   
    Once Minako heard his breathing even out, she untangled herself carefully and slipped her clothes on, tying up her hair as she sent him one last glance and let herself from the room.   
    It wasn't that she didn't want to go with him, or that his promises weren't enticing. She just wasn't ready to return to her life or one close to what she had left. She still had duties as a Senshi, and if she returned it would mean her reclaiming those responsibilities, despite the sweet lure of Kunzite's impossible bedtime words.   
    "Where have you _been_?!" Jezibiah ran up to her and demanded as she reached Maria's nephew's house. "The others are already gone, I've been waiting for you for hours!" He was upset.   
    Minako cringed – she didn't want to make Jezibiah feel bad, he'd always been so nice to her. "I'm sorry, I lost track of the time," she smiled apologetically, hoping he wouldn't ask any questions.   
    He didn't, he just sighed and brought her horse forward. "All right, come on. If we hurry, we can catch up with them."   
    "Hurry," she repeated softly, anxiety filling her. What if Kunzite woke up and caught her before she left the city? Yes, hurry hurry hurry. It became a chant in her, repeating and retracing, pounding through her mind and her blood. When Jezibiah looked at her in curiousity, she gave a wobbly smile and told him that they should probably go faster. 


	14. Honorable Intentions

The sun slanted in onto the well and Jezibiah strode lazily toward it, enjoying the sight of Janie's slim arms easily hauling up the water bucket. She did it with such grace, ease, and simple pleasure that he knew, deep in his heart, that she was capable of no ill. For, after all, how could a girl whose eyes lit with joy at birdsong be bad? How could she have come from the wild, jagged forest, sly and cruel with animal instinct, like the town had at first thought? No, if anything she was a sprite of the air and the sunlight. Her hair shone deeper and richer than even that gracious fiery orb, and her eyes taunted the deepest of the sky's purity. She was. . . .   
    Perfect.   
    She worked hard, had a gentle disposition, and goodness only knew she was beautiful. Jezibiah's parents had been after him for some time to marry, and he wondered if Janie might be willing. Beside her, all of the town's girls fell flat, and he was somewhat distressed at the burgeoning hope that she might say yes – and the dilapidating fear that she wouldn't. His emotions were caught too up with him, and he was frightened, sometimes, to even see her in the mornings.   
    When they found that she was pregnant, though, he became suddenly numb. When had this happened? Why had Janie done it? Was she forced? Certainly she must have been, because she was a good, modest girl, and would not have so besmirched herself.   
    "Dear, are you with child?" Maria had asked, and Janie's head had snapped up so quickly, her face filled with such horror, eyes overladen with fear, that Jezibiah's heart hurt for her and he had had to turn away. As he heard her struggle to make a calm reply, his heart almost burst and he left, quickly, so that they need not see his agony.   
    The pain she must have gone through! he thought. The mental anguish! And here he was worrying about asking her to marry him – _him_, a selfish oaf. But certainly, after this, she would be _glad_ to marry! She needed to – had to! It was not a matter of love, but of honor.   
    He would offer tonight. 

And so he returned later that night, joining them for dinner. The lamplight was low and yellow, casting long shadows across the quiet kitchen. Jezibiah sat across the table from the women, refusing the food they offered him. He didn't look at either of them, but kept his steady, brooding gaze on the table. Minako's eyes kept flitting nervously to him as she chewed, wondering what he was thinking so very seriously about.   


    When they had finished and Minako took the plates to the wash-tub, he started to speak.   
    "I will take the disgrace from you, Miss Janie, by marrying you myself if the man who . . . impregnated you . . . cannot be found or made to do his honorable duty." He seemed to have trouble getting some of the words out, but his rock-hard determination was clear and his eyes never wavered from the table.   
    Minako turned to stare at him, wide-eyed. She was perfectly still for a long moment, then took two steps and threw her arms around Jezibiah's neck. She gave him a good, healthy squeeze and backed up, eyes moist and appreciative.   
    "Thank you for caring," she said, eyeing him with curious fondness.   
    He glanced up from the table at her shortly and then looked back, an unhappy blush spreading over his nose and touching his ears. He was certain she could not refuse such a noble offer and it made him feel guilty, as if he were forcing her into the decision instead of giving her freedom in the matter.   
    But desperate times. . . .   
    "I can't accept your help," she finished, sobering.   
    "What?!" Jezibiah turned toward her in mortification. "You don't mean to have that child out of wedlock? What about the disgrace?! What people will think!" He was horrified.   
    Minako was a little surprised at his outburst. The laws of Venus still applied to her, even though she was not an acting princess or goddess. On Venus, women were very much in charge – only on Earth had she seen such evident masculine supremacy. It was not disgraceful on Venus for a woman to be unmarried – to never marry. As long as a woman loved, marriage need not be necessary.   
    But Jezibiah was not Venusian.   
    Minako sighed. "Then 'people' will think I have been impregnated by a man. That is all."   
    Jezibiah stood, staring at her. Mouth gaping in incredulity, he backed up and left, stumbling a bit.   
    Minako and Maria were silent for a moment.   
    "Did I say something wrong?"   
    Maria only shook her head and beckoned the younger woman to help with the dishes. 

"Stay away from him," Ace murmured as he held Minako.   


    "I will," she promised, sinking into his warmth.   
    "I don't want you to see that child's father again." He squeezed her tightly. "From now on, think of me as its father."   
    Minako nodded and nuzzled against him. "Make love to me," she requested.   
    Ace kissed her. "I wish I could . . . but you're just going to have to wait until we're together again."   
    "When will that be?" she clung to him.   
    "As soon as I can arrange it, darling."   
    "When will that be?" she repeated.   
    He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Not for a few years." At Minako's protest, he shushed her and kissed her again. "I'll keep coming to you at night, I promise. My power . . . it's still growing."   
    "Make it grow faster," she murmured and lay with him on the smooth black ground until she woke up in her warm bed.   
    She had no memory of her dream. 


	15. News

The whispers were getting to be a bit too much. Minako was a patient, understanding woman, but every time she entered the town store the women would stop talking and whisper behind their hands. It had been six months and Minako was showing significantly – she had become the town scandal. Jezibiah wasn't talking to her anymore and she knew, from his strained, haggard appearance, that he was getting the brunt of the blame for her state. She felt sorry for him, but there was nothing she could do.   
    After all, how could she marry a man she did not love? It was silly of him to even ask.   
    But Minako plodded cheerfully through the rumors and the dirty looks until the first day of spring when the town was in a furor getting ready to go see the High Prince married.   
    "Gertrude?" Minako asked one of the younger girls as she stepped into the busy store. "What's going on?"   
    The girl seemed too excited to care that it was Minako she was speaking to. "High Prince Endymion is marrying the Moon Princess in three weeks! Everyone is going!"   
    Minako went white, but the girl didn't seem to notice her sudden pallor. Gertrude turned and hurried to join her friends, chattering brightly and endlessly with them as they moved out the door, into the sunlight.   
    _Was that me?_ Minako thought through her stunned haze. _Was I ever that carefree? Was I ever her? Them? Those girls, giggling over men and new dresses and wreaths of flowers? Or was I always responsible, always the leader? Always with the weight of the Inner Planets on my shoulders. Was I ever that innocent?_ She wavered a bit and felt strong arms wrap around her, steady her.   
    "Janie, are you all right?" Jezibiah asked her, concerned. He was worried -- had been for a long while -- but too stubborn to admit it. He had been more hurt by her refusal than he was willing to own to. Didn't she know he would do anything for her? Absolutely anything?   
    She turned a blank gaze to him. _The Moon Princess Serenity is getting married without me. That's unlucky – she has to have the Goddess of Love there to bless their union. I have to be there._ "I have to go," she whispered.   
    "Go where, Janie?" He was being gentle with her. So gentle. She regretted not loving him.   
    "To the wedding. I have to go and bless it." She was quite serious, but his eyes softened in accommodation.   
    He didn't understand.   
    That didn't matter. She had to get to the wedding.   
    She _had_ to get to the wedding.   
    "I'll make sure you get a spot on the wagon," he said.   
    "Thank you." Her mind was already in the capital, at the castle, where the wedding preparations were being made. It would be an outdoor ceremony – the entire country was invited. . . . 


	16. A Royal Event

It was crowded and Minako's belly kept getting bumped. That was rather uncomfortable, but she had to find a good spot to see the ceremony. She didn't know what would happen. She didn't know what she would do after this. She did know that it wouldn't be the same. Never . . .   
    She found a spot on a fence-rail – a woman had forced her husband to give up his seat for the pretty pregnant girl. Jezibiah and Maria were beside her and the rest of the town was near enough for her to see if she rose up a bit.   
    The ceremony started, but she couldn't see very well. Serenity was in a long, lacy gown of pure white, and her mother stood beside the priest with Luna and Artemis. Minako was glad to see them – and surprised that she felt no more fear of facing Artemis. She watched with curious joy the tender way her old guardian and the Moon Queen's prime advisor interacted. It wouldn't have been obvious to the normal eye, but the light touches and brief glances spoke to the Goddess of Love with a voice at once special and familiar.   
    Goddess, it felt good to be near them all again.   
    The inner senshi stood at attention beside the Princess, the generals beside their Prince, but the sides were uneven. There was an empty spot where she should have been, and if she looked carefully, she could see Mercury carefully holding a golden transformation wand.   
    The priest began and Minako paid careful attention to the rights. It was in Venusian and the priest was from Earth, so he mispronounced a few words, but less than she would have imagined, and nothing important.   
    "Good," she sighed, happy.   
    "What?" Jezibiah asked, looking up at her. She looked down at him, eyelids heavy with contentment, and noticed that he was staring.   
    So were others.   
    "What?" she asked.   
    "You . . ." he started, but something the priest was saying caught her ear.   
    "If anyone has reason that these two should not be joined, speak now. . . ."   
    Minako turned, slipping from the fence, and raised one hand. She had not rehearsed this, but something in her knew that this was her calling and her duty. "_Stop_!" she called. It was as if her voice had been magically amplified, though she had uttered no such spell. It echoed through the crowds without apparent source. She saw Serenity turn in surprise and Endymion frown over his shoulder, also scanning for the speaker. The guards snapped immediately to alert.   
    The priest collected himself, snapping his mouth shut. "Who speaks?"   
    "You have forgotten one important element of this marriage ceremony," she replied, voice still echoing. The priest waited and the crowds shifted and parted, staring at her, giving her way. Minako was suddenly in full view of the royal court and marriage party, and she had a brief knowledge of exactly how she looked – a woman with blonde hair up, in a plain peasant's dress, stomach heavy with child, glowing a pale, golden yellow. With one graceful movement, she reached up and untied the red ribbon keeping her hair in place. It slid out like silk and let loose a jumble of molten gold spill over her shoulders. She held the hair ribbon high and released it to the air. It floated for a moment before exploding into golden sparks, glittering and flying to the couple as Minako smiled and stepped forward. Hand on one hip, she smiled and winked at the startled Serenity. "A blessing from the Goddess of Love." The sparks settled onto the couple as everyone stared – even at this distance, Minako could see the joyful tears forming in her Princess's eyes.   
    And then the magic faded and the child within Minako gave a fitful _kick_. She started and touched her stomach, eyes wide and focused inward. It wasn't ready to come yet, but sure was protesting.   
    Then the guards grabbed her and poised spears at her throat. One cursed her and spat, demanding to know what she had just done to his Prince. Their eyes were angry and frightened, afraid of what she had done and would do next.   
    Another feinted a jab at her stomach and Minako's eyes widened in fearful fury. She didn't want to hurt anyone at the wedding – it was Serenity's special day – but she couldn't let her baby be harmed!   
    When another brandished his staff too close to her belly, she grabbed it and jerked, sending the man tumbling forward. The men closed in around her as she frowned vehemently, golden light growing as she called on her magic after almost two years of disuse. It pulsed wildly around her as she prepared to take down all of the guards surrounding her, the irrational urge to protect her baby surging in her and making her suddenly careless of their lives – but before she could move or direct the gathered magic in any certain direction, a voice rose in utter violence:   
    "_I said STAND DOWN!_"   
    Her heart picked up as the men hastily, uncertainly backed away, lowering their weapons as a silver-haired man broke through their ranks, striding toward her with barely constrained agitation. It took her less than a moment to recognize Kunzite and for a brief, wild moment her heart fluttered with joy.   
    But then he reached her and shot out one hand, gripping her hard, painfully, by the back of her neck. She winced and stared at him in confusion, the icy anger in his eyes frightening her.   
    "Whose?" he wrenched the word out savagely, eyes sweeping over hers, demanding. She knew what he was asking.   
    "Yours," she gasped, flinching from his hard grip and the harsher look in his eyes. He held her like that for a moment more, eyes penetrating hers, before whirling around and stalking silently away. That look, though – the last look she had seen before he turned – tore at her heart and stole her breath. Anger, incredulity, . . . and _pain_. Oh, Selene, what pain.   
    She was left there, staring after him and trembling from the intensity of his gaze and his betrayal. Was it because she ran away from him after their encounter at the festival? Or was it because she hadn't told him that she was with his child? Perhaps both. But he needed to understand – he _had_ to understand – that she couldn't have! It was impossible, preposterous. In her emotional state . . . she needed time alone. Didn't she?   
    Minako was visibly quivering, staring blankly after where he had been, with one hand clutched protectively to her chest. She began to have doubts as to her right in leaving and staying away so long . . . and then she was enveloped in white.   
    "Minako!" Serenity cried, joyful tears coursing down her cheeks as she embraced her friend. The entire assembly had watched the blur of white fly and throw herself at the too-still blonde woman. "We missed you so much!" She hugged the young woman, who was just coming out of her daze.   
    Minako, startled, allowed herself a small smile for her Princess' sake. "I missed you too, Princess." She brought her arms up and held her back.   
    _The Princess has a heart the size of Jupiter!_ Minako chuckled, smiling into the girl's warm shoulder. Her eyes became warm and wet, smile wavering, as she noticed the three figures standing silently behind their Princess.   
    Minako drew back, rubbing her eyes, and gave an uncertain smile to the three Sailor Senshi.   
    "Mars, Mercury, Jupiter," she greeted, not moving any closer to them. There was something in their presence that kept her from moving any closer. "I–" She was stuck. What could she say? She was sorry? She was back?   
    Jupiter stepped forward, stopping just short of Minako and not quite meeting her eyes. "Come on," she said softly, turning and bringing Minako with her by a gentle, insistent hand on her arm. As if that was their cue, the other two Senshi fell in silently behind them. The guards fell back as they approached, almost in fear, and though Minako felt like clinging to Jupiter's arm and sobbing wildly with relief and pain, something in the tall brown woman's cool, dispassionate stride kept her back.   
    As they were entering, Minako realized that she had left her bags behind and Mercury offered to go get them, leaving again.   
    "Thank you!" Minako called after her, but the Senshi of Wisdom only acknowledged her with a brief nod, not even turning back. 


	17. Home Again

"Whaaaat?" Minako laughed as she entered dinner, looking around with wide eyes at the people assembled there.   
    "Surprise!" Serenity cheered, glad to see Minako's pleasure. Half of the town was there: but Minako's eyes moved immediately to Maria and Jezibiah. "I invited them to spend a few days with us, since you wouldn't see them again!"   
    "Serenity . . . Princess . . ." Minako put a hand to her cheek, taking it all in. "I – are you sure about this? It's okay with Endymion?"   
    "When my bride wants her way," a voice from behind Minako began, low and amused, "she gets it." Minako turned to see the Prince, hands clasped behind him and armor discarded in favor of dark, formal dinner clothes. "If it makes her happy," he inclined his dark head gracefully.   
    "Oh, you sweetheart – you absolute doll," Serenity cried, slipping into his arms. They stood together for a moment, just gazing at each other, happily, as the whole room watched. Serenity sighed, expression soft and glowing. "Everyone should be so fortunate," she murmured, and stood on tiptoe to let Endymion kiss her.   
    The kiss reminded Minako of something else and she turned to survey the room. There, in the corner, was Kunzite. He was holding a glass and looking absently at a candelabra, deep in thought. After only a few moments, though, he turned as if sensing her, and met Minako's gaze.   
    His eyes were shielded and cool, but Minako could sense the boiling emotion just beneath the surface.   
    He was still angry with her.   
    It wouldn't have been so bad if she didn't know how hurt he was – how betrayed.   
    But her thoughts were interrupted as he tore his gaze from hers and turned, striding curtly from the dining hall. Minako couldn't help but notice Nephrite's hurried whisper to Makoto before he went after his friend, or the discerning gaze that Makoto sent toward her blonde friend. The brunette blushed a little when she saw Minako looking at her, but would not lower her gaze. Instead, they openly and impartially assessed one another for a long, measured moment. It wasn't until after dinner, though, where Minako had sat with Maria and Jezibiah and Serenity, talking and laughing and ignoring the slight strain at the other end of the table where the Senshi were talking in low tones to the Generals and the town-girls kept casting long looks down the table at the handsome men, that Jupiter approached her.   
    "Minako."   
    Someone touched the woman's shoulder and she jumped a little, turning in surprise. Jezibiah and Maria had just left her with the other townspeople to be shown their rooms. The entire town was not there, since most of the older men and women had to go back and get ready for the harvest season, but the younger crowd, with a scant few adults, had gotten permission to stay.   
    "I'd appreciate it if you would help me bake some cookies tonight. It's been a while since I've cooked and we should catch up." Makoto smiled and Minako, though sensing that the amiability was a little strained, agreed.   
    "I'll be in the kitchens after I change into something more comfortable," Minako said, gesturing to her filmy golden, waistless gown.   
    "Yes," Makoto chuckled, looking down at her hunter-green satin skirts, "I think so too." She smiled up at Minako and the two women laughed together, a nostalgic familiarity springing up between them.   
    "I'll see you in a bit," Minako turned, still smiling, and they parted. 

"Why are you so rough with her, Kunzite?" Nephrite settled onto the edge of his friend's desk, watching the tall, pale man tense where he stood at the window.   


    There was silence, and then Kunzite's cold voice cut through the air like a shard of glass. "Why is that any of your business?"   
    "Because I'm your friend," Nephrite replied, his gaze not wavering.   
    Kunzite turned and gave him a look that would have withered any soldier, but only made Nephrite frown.   
    "Do I have to beat the crap out of you again, or are you going to talk to me?"   
    "Nephrite," Kunzite warned edgily.   
    The brown-haired man shook his head and pressed his lips together, looking at Kunzite in expectation.   
    "Fine," Kunzite barked, yanking a chair around to straddle it and glare at his friend. "I'm _furious_ with her. I'd strangle her if she wasn't carrying my child – _my_ child, Nephrite, which she never even _bothered_ to tell me about!" He stood, knocking his chair over, and there was a wild light in his eyes. "Running away, I can sympathize with. Leaving me after I found her again, I can forgive. But. . . ." he looked about, as if trying to find the right words waiting for him on the walls, and finished with a savage grunt.   
    There was silence and Kunzite would not look at his friend.   
    "The baby is yours," Nephrite stated. He had suspected, but hadn't thought that Kunzite would tell him. In a dark corner of his mind, he had been wondering if Kunzite's anger was over Minako carrying another man's child.   
    Kunzite was silent. 


	18. A Mercurian Interlude

Ami brushed the hair from her forehead – the wind kept tossing strands into her eyes – and watched the Moon's silver play off of the palace pond. It was such a calm, cool night, and the sound of the water lapping below the library's balcony soothed her taut nerves. Yet the water could do nothing to ease the discomfort of her mind.   
    As if summoned up by her distress, strong hands slipped to her shoulders and massaged gently. Ami immediately relaxed and let her head fall back languidly, sighing.   
    "Zoicite, you're wonderful," she murmured, eyes closed.   
    She could almost hear him smile. "Well then, princess. Since you're so grateful, why don't you tell me what's bothering you?" There was a serious undertone to his soft question – concern under the playfulness.   
    Ami's eyes opened and she raised her head, moving from under his hands. She stood and walked to the railing.   
    "I know that I should be happy that Minako is back," Ami said quietly, allowing Zoicite to come up behind her. His hands, as he touched her again, were hesitant, but, finding no rebuke, he continued to rub out the kinks in her shoulders. "I should. She's one of my best friends and we grew up together – trained and fought together. I don't see why I'm not thrilled. . . ."   
    "I do," Zoicite said so quietly that Ami wondered if he had spoken at all. He continued in a stronger voice. "You four have duties to the Princess – important ones – and though you understand that she had to have some time to herself, you resent that she got to have a normal life for a while – and _still_ now, with the baby. Because, princess, we all know that Senshi cannot have normal lives." He snorted softly. "What do you think I've been brooding about all these weeks, hm?" He turned her around and looked seriously into her eyes. "Ami, you know that if we marry, our duties come first. I hate that – hate not being able to protect my wife as I should – but I accept it. Neither of us have normal lives, darling, and we have responsibilities that come before any relationship. But I'm willing to live like that, if you are."   
    Ami was extraordinarily conscious of her own breathing. "Zoicite . . . are you saying. . . ."   
    "I want us to marry."   
    Ami wasn't sure if she was going to scream or faint . . . so she burst into tears.   
    "Ami?" Zoicite was distressed.   
    "Yes," she got out between sobs, wrenching his shirt in her slim fists as she clung to him.   
    He smiled. 


	19. Baking

There was a knock on Minako's door and, when she opened it, she was happy to see Jezibiah.   
    "Come in, come in!" she urged, and he stepped inside her room like a deer ready to bolt. She was relieved to see a friendly face, as she was dreading any encounters with Kunzite and still hadn't seen Artemis since her return. He and Luna had not come down to dinner and were leaving in the morning with the Moon Queen to return to her court. Minako decided that it was for the best, though she knew she had to face him again one day.   
    "You look nice," Jezibiah complimented, and Minako smiled at him.   
    "Thank you." She had put on old clothes to cook with Makoto, so that she would not ruin any of her good dresses. Her pale peach apron was frilly and ridiculous against the simple yellow cotton of her lacy spring dress, the skirt both wide and long enough to comfortably clad her pregnant state. Still, she enjoyed a little frivolity after all that drab clothing while living at Maria's. Her wardrobe was one of the things she had missed most, because she couldn't wear out her clothes as blithely as she was used to.   
    "Maria wanted me to see if you would talk to us about all of this," he gestured vaguely around him, at the room and the castle and Minako's position in it all.   
    Minako frowned and bit her lip. "I promised Makoto that I would bake with her tonight. I'm sorry. But tomorrow, maybe, after lunch, we could go into the garden or the library and talk."   
    Jezibiah smiled. "That would be fine."   
    "Good," Minako took his arm and beamed up at him, drawing him out the door with her. "You make sure that the servants get you both some new clothes, all right? I can't have you meeting royalty in your work-boots."   
    She smiled again, but Jezibiah looked a bit uncomfortable. "Are my clothes not proper?"   
    "Oh," Minako turned to face him as he shut the door behind them. "I didn't mean that, I just thought you might like some new things. . . ." Her voice trailed off and they stood gazing at each other for a moment. When he looked hurt like that, he reminded her so _strongly_ of Ace! It was disturbing.   
    "I'm just _saying_, Kunzite," someone was coming out of a door nearby, and the men speaking paused when they saw Minako and Jezibiah, who turned to blink at the pair of Endymion's generals. The men straightened. "Good evening, princess," Nephrite bowed slightly. "Good evening, sir."   
    Jezibiah took his hand off of Minako's doorknob as if it were hot, his face reddening in embarrassment. He bowed deeper in return. "Gentlemen."   
    Minako inclined her head, worry playing across her face as she tried to summarize Kunzite's mood from his appearance. He stood stiffly, but he had always had terrific posture. It seemed, though, that his back would break were it any straighter, and his eyes remained coldly . . . on her nose. "General Nephrite, General Kunzite," she nodded. "Lovely evening." After a few more tense moments, Minako tore her gaze away and took Jezibiah's arm again, attempting to compose herself. "Let's go, shall we?" she said softly, wishing eagerly to be away from there. "Makoto will not be happy if I am late." 

"Makoto will not be happy if I am late." It rang in his ears and he could feel some of the tension drain from his body as his love took another man's arm and left him standing there – like a clod, a clown, like nothing. He _did_ love her. He loved her desperately, violently, jealously. He wanted nothing more than to knock that useless boy away from her and shield her and their child from anything and everything threatening them.   


    But prudence and pride kept him back, kept him standing there as he watched her white face tip up to another man's and her sweet lips curve into a smile and her pretty golden hair swirl around the corner.   
    Kunzite let out the breath he had been holding. "I am the biggest idiot on this planet."   
    Nephrite smirked. "Took you that long to figure it out?"   
    Kunzite glared at his friend and turned to slam his door in Nephrite's face.   
    Nephrite stood there and smiled. Maybe there was some hope for the couple after all. 

The halls were dark, so that Minako had to ask a servant to show Jezibiah back to his rooms, but the kitchen was blazing with light. It was a good-sized kitchen, stocked to feed an army, and Makoto already had a dozen pots and pans out.   


    "Grab the flour out of the pantry, will you?" the brunette said from where she was digging eagerly in the lower cabinets. Minako repressed a smile at Makoto's green-skirted rear sticking up in the air as she dug about, clanging pots and shuffling boxes. She really shouldn't laugh at her friend, but the brunette looked incredibly silly in that position. Of course, Minako theorized, a man might feel differently. Makoto was the fullest-figured of all four Inner Senshi and surprisingly feminine for all she was the toughest. She had a passion for knick-knacks, cooking, cleaning, decorating, and entertaining. She would be an incredible wife some day – if it weren't for Sailor Senshi business depleting her love-life to near-nada.   
    Minako suddenly felt a wave of sorrow for her fellow Senshi. At least she had had a chance at a normal life, but they had been stuck here, in their old roles as warriors and guards.   
    What a waste of amazing, loving women, Minako thought briefly, then became annoyed with herself. Who was she to judge?   
    They made cookies. By the time they were done, Minako was thoroughly covered in flour and Makoto had faint white smudges on her cheeks. They were laughing and Minako leaned forward as Makoto took the cookies from the oven, letting the strong, heady scent wash over her with warmth. Makoto bustled about, shoveling the cookies onto the counter between them and getting some milk into two glasses.   
    "So, tell me," Makoto picked up a cookie and watched Minako munching happily away. "How has everything been?"   
    Minako glanced over at Makoto and swallowed her cookie. She was silent for a minute and Makoto waited patiently. When she began to speak, she was looking at the floor. "I didn't mean to stay away so long. I didn't know how long I was going to be gone, but the time just kept getting longer and longer, and it still didn't feel right." She looked up at Makoto then, her expression contrite. "I didn't mean to get pregnant either." She put a hand on her stomach. "That was a mistake – though I can't claim I didn't love the father."   
    "And how do you feel about him now?" Makoto dipped a cookie in her milk.   
    "I still love him," Minako murmured. Her expression hardened. "I don't expect to be leader again immediately. I know that I'm going to have to work hard to get back to the level I was at – to get back into the Inner Senshi, much less have aspirations to be leader again – but I'll work on that after the baby is born." She smiled, a little uncertain, but Makoto warmed and gave her a great big hug, despite the cookie in her hand that fell on Minako's dress.   
    "We love you, Mina-chan," she whispered fiercely, "no matter what you do or what we say. Don't forget that. Don't ever forget that."   
    Minako felt tears threatening to fall and didn't try to stop them. She hugged Makoto back and they separated, sniffling and smiling at each other, and sat talking and giggling long into the night, their voices carrying like muted brooks down the long stone hallways. 


	20. Interrogation

Minako sat in the garden after lunch the next day, helping Maria mend an old dress. She pursed her lips and looked up at the older woman. "You know, the servants would do this for you."   
    Maria nodded curtly and kept on stitching. Minako shrugged and kept working on her part, ignoring the chattering youths that came out and settled themselves around her feet. Only when Jezibiah was there did they both put their work down and look expectant.   
    "Well, everyone's here," he said, looking around. The voices silenced and looked up at him. "If you have something to ask Janie, ask her now," he said, and a flurry of questions exploded from the small crowd. "Raise your hands!" he yelled, then nodded to a girl.   
    "Who are you _really_?"   
    Minako nodded and told them: "I am Minako, Princess of Venus and leader of the Moon Princess' private sect of Sailor Senshi." She paused. "That is, if I still have a job," and smiled wryly, picking someone else.   
    "Why did you come to our town?"   
    "I was running away from something," she said softly and her smile faltered.   
    "What?"   
    Her reply was to smile again and choose another waving hand. Before the girl could speak, though, Maria cut in.   
    "Who is the father?"   
    Minako blinked and suddenly no one would look directly at her. They all seemed to find the grass very interesting, or the birds overhead, and she wondered if they had all been dying to ask this particular question, but had deemed it too intrusive. She shook her head and didn't answer.   
    "I have a question," Jezibiah growled, brooding at the grass. "Does the father _know_?"   
    Minako looked up at him, at his pale hair shining in the sunlight. "Yes."   
    He turned to look at her. "And will he do something about it?" _Do I have to do something about it?_ he was asking. _Like beat the guy up and make him accept the baby, or take care of you myself?_   
    Minako sat back and closed her eyes briefly, as if the sunlight was hurting them. She was silent for a long moment and then spoke, and everyone leaned forward to hear her. "He is a respectable man. He will accept his role and take responsibility for what is his – I do not, in any way, fear that he will let me down in this. Duty is very serious to him."   
    She opened her eyes and looked up at Jezibiah, who was scrutinizing her with a worried expression. "But he's not doing anything right now?"   
    "He's angry with me," was all she said.   
    And the questions continued. 


	21. Kunzite

It was at a feast honoring the newlywed Prince and Princess that Kunzite found himself on a balcony with Minako's pale-haired friend. It was dark out and the feast was in the garden, under the stars and the full light of the moon, with candles and people coming and going beneath them, servants moving restlessly to keep the guests fed and happy.   
    Kunzite moved up next to the young man at the rail, a wine glass dangling precariously from his fingers as he leaned and looked over the party below.   
    "Nice night," the young man commented, sending him a furtive side glance.   
    Kunzite nodded and watched Minako laughing with Princess Jupiter, who seemed much more amiable than when Minako arrived. He was glad that they were accepting her back so quickly. Although. . . . He looked over at Princess Mars, who was standing silently by a tree with Jadeite and ignoring his fluttering about her. She was, instead, looking at Minako in a clandestine, uncertain way. He wondered what she knew about why Minako had left. She would not speak of it to anyone, and he only imagined that the other senshi knew because the Queen would have told them. She had drawn terribly into herself since her vision of Minako's misfortune, becoming quiet and pale. Jadeite, ever since the senshi and their Princess had come down several months ago, had been barraging her with his cheerful personality and an insane optimism that Kunzite believed he would never have developed but for the withdrawn princess' presence. He had seen, in his previous brooding observations, small, appreciative smiles that the princess spared Jadeite – and had noted the way his friend's eyes lit with elation at each small, positive reinforcement of his efforts. It was an ambiguous courtship, but Kunzite had seen the dark princess' smiles becoming more and more frequent – and more and more affectionate.   
    He looked at the Princess Mercury, who was talking to Princess Serenity, holding her hands earnestly. From Zoicite's tall, proud posture behind her, Kunzite knew something was up. He narrowed his eyes as Serenity paused in astonishment and then _threw_ herself on her Senshi of Water and Wisdom. He couldn't help smirking as Serenity announced something to the people surrounding them and a mass of laughing party-goers converged on the couple.   
    "Wonder what that's about," the young man commented, not two feet away from Kunzite.   
    Kunzite turned lazily to look at Minako's friend through narrowed, unfriendly eyes. The young man looked away quickly and Kunzite dropped the glare. "They're getting married, I'd imagine, from the reactions." He saw Minako give Ami a careful hug and took a sip of his dwindling wine. "I can't say I'm surprised. They were the second couple made out of our lot." The wine must have been loosening his tongue, because he suddenly felt a wave of affability towards this young man. "See that couple by the tree? Princess Mars and that General? I'm not sure they know it yet, but they are quite a pair. The third pair is that brown-haired couple: Princess Jupiter and my friend Nephrite."   
    There was silence for a moment as Jezibiah picked the couples out. "What about Venus?" His voice was soft and casual, but there was an important underlying question.   
    Kunzite looked down at the bundle of gold now sitting by one of the banquet tables with Nephrite and Jupiter, round and beautiful with his child. "She left," he replied simply.   
    "In town, once, the younger girls were bothering her about men and she told them that there had been one, but she wouldn't say any more. I remember though – the look in her eyes was hard to forget." He paused and added quietly, "That was the day I realized I didn't have a chance with her."   
    Kunzite snorted bitterly. "No one has a chance with her. She's bad luck."   
    "Someone did," Jezibiah bit out abruptly. "Someone had her and I'd like to skin him alive for what he did to her. Leaving her like that."   
    Kunzite stared at him. "What?" It was all he could manage.   
    Jezibiah looked back at him, righteous anger twisting his features. "She says the father is honorable, but I don't believe her. I don't think he's going to do anything about that baby – he hasn't so far, has he?"   
    Kunzite stared at the boy a little more, becoming annoyed, and then turned deliberately back to the view and shrugged. "Maybe he had good reason. And _maybe_," he spat out before Jezibiah could add anything else, "_she_ left _him_."   
    Jezibiah shut his mouth with a snap and stood turning this over in his head for a minute. "We still don't know what happened," he said carefully.   
    "Exactly," Kunzite triumphed. "So we don't know who is to blame."   
    "I still don't think she would have done anything very bad."   
    Kunzite snorted. "You don't know her very well."   
    "I know her well enough," Jezibiah rounded on him. "You seem _determined_ to make her into some monster, and you'd better stop!" It was a warning.   
    Kunzite allowed all of the bitterness and anger wash into his eyes as he stared down the presumptuous boy. "I was with her before _any_ of them had even met," he pointed down to the party in the general direction of his friends. "And I think I know the leader of the Sailor Senshi a bit better than _you_ do." He poured the remains of his wine negligently over the rail and stalked out, blinking a bit at the shrill cry from below.   
    "_My dre-ess!!_"   
    He refrained, admirably, from smiling, but had the decency of grimacing in the darkness of the hallway.   
    Jezibiah fell into step beside him after a moment, but Kunzite didn't stop him. "Are you the father?" he asked softly, tightly.   
    Kunzite didn't reply, but led Jezibiah into the deeper hallways of the palace. He stopped before a pair of bronze doors and turned on the younger man. "What kind of girl do you think Minako is?"   
    Jezibiah took it as a challenge. "A sweet girl. Kind and caring, full of life and joy and . . . and . . . sadness."   
    Kunzite stared at him until Jezibiah's gaze faltered, then turned and opened the doors. "Come."   
    Jezibiah looked up and followed him through into a great room, over to the side where Kunzite worked a few glittering controls, then turned to look at Jezibiah. "Yes, but only partly. Minako is a warrior and a leader. She has responsibilities and honor and pride – like me. And that's why I fell in love with her." He turned to face the center of the room and pressed his hand to the panel. An image flickered up in the center of the room and Jezibiah shrank closer to the wall and Kunzite. The room was filled with a great dark archway and figures were coming out of it, four of them. Something about the way they moved – the purpose and pride – frightened Jezibiah.   
    Four young women emerged from the darkness and paused, breaking apart in a smooth, practiced motion. Two went either way and the blonde in front held her sword high, face hard and eyes sharp as the fourth dropped slightly behind her, pulling down a blue visor. An unfelt wind ruffled their hair and the hem of the blonde's short skirt.   
    Then everything froze.   
    "The girl in front is Minako, Sailor Venus. Behind her is Princess Mercury. To the left is Jupiter and over there is Mars. The Inner Senshi, the Moon Princess' royal guards." When Jezibiah remained silent and stunned, Kunzite explained. "This room is a memory machine, built by the Plutonian royals for the Prince's recent marriage – as a present. This is my own memory of a fight by the senshi." He let it play and the setting changed – Minako shrank and Jezibiah was looking out over the center of a dirt-packed battle arena, royal flags and banners hung all around. A great ugly beast was in the center and it was slightly misty, as if a dissipating fog. He saw a line of fire flash through, closely followed by a blast of electricity and blurs of red and green. A wind blew the last fragments of mist away and he saw a glowing yellow line wrap around the creature's hand and the girl on the other end tugged. More electricity and suddenly the beast grew in the room and he could see Sailor Venus running, leaping at the thing's back, and saw in horror that it turned as she reached it and spat something at her. . . . and that she kept going, skewering it, and as it fell, her face was _melting_. . . .   
    The scene changed, but it was a still-life. A room with a mahogany bed, windows open and curtains billowing slightly in a breeze. A man with platinum hair lay on the bed, unconscious, and the Princess of Mars was crumpled into herself on the side of the bed, being comforted by the Moon Queen herself. There was blood on the butter-yellow covers.   
    "Minako's room, when she ran away. Mars saw what had happened, but none of us were told. That man," his voice tightened and Jezibiah looked at Artemis, "was her guardian and most trusted friend. I don't know what he did, but it was hard for me not to kill him when I saw him at the wedding." He switched the machine off and turned to Jezibiah, but didn't look at him. "At that festival, when I woke up and she was gone, I felt like a fool. I had talked about . . . love and," he gave a wild half-laugh, "marriage . . . as if she would agree with me." His gaze, again impassive, met Jezibiah's. "I guess she wasn't over what that bastard did to her, because she ran away from me. I never thought she would run away from _me_, because I loved her. . . . and I had thought that she loved me. But."   
    They stood there together and didn't look at each other for a long, long while.   
    Kunzite finally moved toward the door. "That is who the Princess of Venus is, make no mistake."   
    For a brief moment, Jezibiah's mind threw up an image of Minako wrestling a boar to the ground and snapping it's neck, but he just as quickly denied it, sweeping it from his thoughts as promptly and irrevocably as he would flick a bug from his sleeve. He shook his head, once, as if to clear it, and was certain in his decided stand. "You're a liar and a rapist." He was trembling with righteous fury. "And you better shut up before I have to make you."   
    Kunzite looked at him and blinked, strangely disappointed. He had been hoping . . . what? That this man would be sympathetic? Understanding? That he could make a friend?   
    Stupid. Stupid, dumb, insane. Anger and hurt boiled in his stomach, mixing and making him sick. He'd just put his heart out, his pain, and had it spat upon.   
    When would he learn not to trust people?   
    Kunzite turned without speaking and strode out, down the hall and out of the castle, heading away from the party. He didn't know where he was going, exactly – just that he wanted to get away from _people_ for awhile. And so he strode, tense, into the dark, holding tight to a strip of red cloth in his pocket, as if it would somehow save him. 


	22. Jezibiah

"Minako," Jezibiah greeted, sinking down by her feet in the garden where she and Maria were. There were a few townspeople scattered about, but they weren't listening. "Did you have fun at the party last night?"   
    Her eyes brightened delightfully. "I had a wonderful time, thank you! I didn't see you much, though. Where were you?"   
    Jezibiah frowned. "I was talking to a jerk on the balcony and decided to go to bed early."   
    "Oh?" Minako looked concerned. "Why was he a jerk?"   
    "He was saying some pretty mean things about you," Jezibiah picked at the grass and Maria glanced at him.   
    "And who was _this_ blind fool?" the old woman asked, jabbing fiercely at her knitting and pressing her lips tight.   
    "One of those generals," Jezibiah muttered and Minako went perfectly still.   
    "Who?" she asked breathlessly.   
    "The big pale-haired one." At Minako's pale face, he added quickly, "He was saying some lousy things about you and I got mad at him. I guess I should have watched my mouth, but I didn't like hearing him talk about you like that."   
    "You're a good boy," Maria approved.   
    "What did he say?" She was still stunned and had trouble drawing a proper breath.   
    "He claimed to be the baby's father and that you left him and were very violent and . . . and it was more his tone than anything else. He was being very disrespectful."   
    Minako covered her face with her hands and groaned. "Oh, he has a right to say whatever he wants of me."   
    "No he _doesn't_!" Jezibiah scoffed angrily. "No man has any right to treat you – a senshi and a princess and a wonderful woman – with disrespect! No man has any right to lie about you."   
    "Jezibiah," Minako breathed painfully, "he wasn't lying. I did those things to him." She averted her face, not wanting to see Jezibiah's crushed faith. "Kunzite is an honest, honorable man, and he's never been anything else – even when I first met him." She sighed, miserable. "I don't blame him that he's still angry."   
    She heard the rustle of Jezibiah standing and turned to him, shocked at the tears in his eyes. "How could you _do_ that?"   
    Minako straightened in her seat, smoothing her face in the way of aristocracy. "That business is mine and his. No one else need concern themselves with it." She slumped a little, her back hurting. "When he chooses to forgive me, he will."   
    The woman who sat there was not the woman Jezibiah remembered. Janie was kind, sweet, and smiling – if a little sad. This girl was a stranger – cold and distant with eyes like blue ice. This was the Princess of Venus.   
    "Why should he?" Jezibiah asked, white-lipped and wild-eyed, not understanding what he had seen in this girl, or what the cold man from the night before had seen in her. One thing he knew, though, was that they were made for each other. All he had to do was look into this horrible woman's eyes and know that the fierce, hard general would compliment her well.   
    Minako was stricken, but she replied as best she could. "Kunzite is a kind man . . . when he wants to be. He can be harsh sometimes, but he _is_ the leader of Earth's military. . . . And he has a responsibility to the baby," she faltered, stopping.   
    "Everyone has their good points and their bad," Maria tossed out, knitting thoughtfully. "If you love each other. . . ." she told Minako, and shrugged.   
    Minako was so happy, she kissed her. "Thank you, dearest Maria," she gasped. 

It was dark as Jezibiah hurried the other town-folk, tossing bags onto horses and strapping them firmly in place. A few servants helped him, but the town-folk wandered a bit aimlessly, confused at his haste in leaving and the sudden fervent will that they had never seen before. It was late and they were tired, but the look in the young man's eyes was impossible to approach or reason with.   


    When the last horse was readied, Jezibiah hurried everyone onto their mounts and strode back to his own, his eyes hollow and haunted.   
    There was a man holding his horse. A tall man – broad, with shoulder-length pale hair. He looked at Jezibiah with no imitation of friendliness – only a sad understanding.   
    "Here," he held out a strip of red. Jezibiah only stared at the item dumbly. "Take it." Jezibiah didn't move. Kunzite sighed and forced it into the younger man's unwilling hand. "It's her bow. From her hair. You loved her – yes, you _did_ love her, and still do, I can tell." Jezibiah frowned fiercely and opened his mouth, but Kunzite cut him off with a sharp gesture. They were out of earshot of the rest of the village, who were waiting for Jezibiah to leave. "Shut up. Just because you loved the normal part of her, the ordinary girl who loved life and loved _living_ life, doesn't mean that the object of your love was fake. She's still that girl. She just . . . has responsibilities that don't allow her a normal life. Otherwise . . . you would have had a chance."   
    They looked at each other for a long, measured moment, and Jezibiah glanced down at the strip of red cloth in his hand.   
    "Thank you." The comment was unwilling, but it was made.   
    Kunzite shook his head and looked up at the dark castle. Only the moon gave them any light. "I love her too." He paused. "I'm furious with her, but I love her. Obsessed with her. Wild about her." His eyes filled with pain and focused inward. "_God, Minako,_" he whispered with feeling.   
    Jezibiah turned, leaving Kunzite to himself, and joined his party. In silence, in the night, they left. 


	23. Pain

Minako tossed wearily in her sleep, dried tears on her cheeks. She had cried herself to sleep over the townspeople leaving with no prior notice. She missed Maria and Jezibiah dreadfully.   
    He was taller than her.   
    There was a man in her dream, and he was taller than her. Not as broad as Kunzite, though, and his hair was wavy and fell about his eyes in soft blonde locks. Jezibiah? No, no. The _feeling_ was wrong.   
    His face was in shadow as she approached him, but she knew, somehow, that she was safe. She reached him, nightgown in cream-and-silk waves around her. He turned, took her into his arms, and kissed her cheek, head bowed over hers. She still couldn't see his face, but his eyes glowed at her, golden, and his breath was cool against her face.   
    "How's our baby?" he asked tenderly, smoothing her hair.   
    "Fine," Minako whispered back. "Very rowdy. I think it's about to come."   
    He held her until the darkness of his tall figure blended into the blank darkness of dreamlessness and she woke.   
    "Ow," she gasped, wincing, and her eyes widened in the grey of dawn. "Oh dear."   
    A short while later, a midwife was in Minako's room and there was a small assembly of worried personages clustered outside the door, some pacing and some fidgeting.   
    "_Ah, Goddess!_"   
    Nephrite winced. "She sounds like she's dying."   
    "Ami wouldn't allow it," Zoicite replied calmly. His fiancee was helping the midwife, while Makoto was busily making a feast to help Minako regain her strength afterwards – bossing the kitchen around with the prowess of a princess. Rei was inside, working a charm to protect Minako in labor, and Serenity was allowing Minako to hold her hand.   
    "_OW!_"   
    "_OW!_" Serenity chorused.   
    There was a string of expletives and then silence for a brief moment.   
    Serenity slipped out of the door and Endymion hurried over to her. "Your hand!" he cried.   
    She smiled painfully. "It's all right. I guess I should know better than to comfort a Senshi during labor." She looked at Kunzite and waved him towards the room. "She wants you," she told him and flexed her red fingers. She thought one was broken, but wasn't going to say anything. "Your hands are probably stronger than mine," she muttered as he passed.   
    He only nodded and went into the room, ignoring the shared looks behind him.   
    "You _jerk_!" Minako growled as the midwife told her to push. She was in her cream-and-silk nightgown, knees drawn up and apart, back supported by the extra pillows Ami had ordered brought in. Her body was golden and glowing with sweat, her hair stringing down about her face. "_You_ did this to me! It's all your fault!" She followed up with some expletives as the midwife kept urging her to push. "_You_ push!" she finally screamed, swinging out at the woman when she came within reach. Kunzite moved over and grabbed her hand, pushing it back.   
    "Don't kill the midwife," he muttered. He shifted through a few things on the table beside her bed as she yelled at him, listening to her with only half an ear. Finally, he came across a bright red ribbon and moved beside her, carefully tying her hair back from her face.   
    Ami looked up from her mini-computer at this, watching the tender moment as Minako quieted and allowed him to tie all of her hair back. She looked up in bewildered thanks and all three women fell silent as they saw the pair's eyes meet in a soft, brief exchange. Minako broke the contact, but she slipped her hand into Kunzite's – and gasped as another wave of pain hit her, so that the midwife again urged her to push. Ami and Rei shared a look, but quickly went back to their tasks.   
    Now she was crying, complaining that she couldn't push any more. "And you," she yanked violently on Kunzite's hand as he kneeled beside the bed. "You're no help! You get me pregnant and then you don't even [AH!] _talk_ to me! [AH!] You jerk! You creep! You – _AAAAH_!" She cried out as the midwife gasped, Rei's chanting picking up speed.   
    "I see the head! Come on, Lady, come on!" the midwife urged.   
    Minako was too tired to grate out an insult at the woman, so she pushed instead.   
    "Come on, Mina-chan," Kunzite murmured from her side, his hand being crushed in her grip, but he was too focused on what was happening to care.   
    After much pain, she gave one final push and fell back, exhausted, as the midwife cut the umbilical cord. Ami helped her wash the baby and they wrapped it in a yellow blanket.   
    "It's a girl," the midwife said as Ami handed her bundle to an exhausted Minako.   
    "Thank you," she breathed, pushing the blanket back from her baby's face as Kunzite leaned forward. She glanced up as the midwife started to shoo the other two women out. "And I'm sorry about my language."   
    "That's okay, dear," the midwife said for them and pushed them both out, closing the door behind herself.   
    Kunzite was leaning far over Minako, fussing with the blanket so that he could see the baby better. Minako giggled and pushed at him. "Move. I want to see her, too," she whispered.   
    He only turned his head and grinned up at her, taking her breath away. His face was open and he _glowed_. "I'm a father," he told her, smiling. Joy bubbled up into laughter and Minako moved over to let him sit beside her on the bed. He took her head impulsively and kissed her, then bent and kissed his daughter on her small, white-fuzzed crown.   
    "Does this mean . . ." she hesitated and he looked up, blinking at the seriousness in her voice, "that you're not mad at me anymore?"   
    His eyes darkened in uncertainty, and he looked down. He was remembering all the hurt, the pain – but when he looked back up at his child and the woman he loved, all of his anger drained and he was left with nothing but the happiness of the moment. He smiled into her worried face and brushed her bangs back. "Hm. What will you give me if I do?"   
    Minako wrinkled her nose playfully, then declared. "A lifetime of love and devotion."   
    "Marriage?" his eyes lit up a bit at the idea and he looked so much a like a child in a room full of candy that she couldn't help laughing.   
    "Okay, yes, marriage. Though our duties must come first," she added.   
    "Yes," he nodded, still stroking the soft down of their baby girl's head. He looked at the bundle. "And right after our child's safety."   
    She nodded, silently agreeing, and watched Kunzite bonding with their daughter. "She has your hair," Minako observed in a soft voice.   
    "Yes, and your eyes." He paused. "What will we name her?"   
    Minako smiled and waited until Kunzite's eyes met hers. "I thought of classic names like Aphrodite or Eros or Cupid, but only one of those is a girl's name. It took a while before I remembered the story of Cupid falling in love with a human princess." She paused and Kunzite looked increasingly curious. With a final flourish to her voice, she proclaimed that their daughter be called: "Psyche."   
    Kunzite mouthed the name thoughtfully and then smiled back at her, giving his approval. "I like it."   
    "Of course you do," she kissed his nose primly and sat back with Psyche in her arms. "Now shut up and go get the midwife. I'm exhausted."   
    "Yes, milady," he teased, covering her lips with his for a long, breathless moment before turning and striding out the door, pride etched into his every move. 


	24. Pillow Talk

Minako was in Kunzite's room – their room, now – lying in the crook of his arm and toying lazily with the golden wedding band on her finger. Psyche was lying in a crib three feet from her side of the bed, so that she could jump up and take care of her if she started to cry.   
    "Mina-chan," Kunzite murmured and Minako smiled at the way his rumbling voice affected her – it made her feel safe and warm and sleepy.   
    "Hm?" she answered, eyelids already drooping.   
    "Why did you leave the Moon Kingdom?" he asked gently. "What did he do to you?"   
    Minako was silent for a long time, until he wasn't sure if she would even answer. Then, "He did nothing. I knocked him out before he could do anything."   
    "So he didn't hurt you?" Kunzite frowned. "Then why did you leave?"   
    She paused and searched for words. "His mind wasn't right. He thought I was my mother – and when I thought of it later, it wasn't the first time. He had loved my mother – been her lover – and when he . . . well, I was scared. Shaken. And I panicked and ran. After that . . . I was too ashamed to come home. What would I do when I had to face Artemis again? What if he hadn't gotten any better and he succeeded in his efforts– what if he raped me without even realizing? I couldn't . . . face that. I _couldn't_!" Her voice was low, so as not to wake the baby, but she searched Kunzite's face earnestly.   
    His eyes had hardened in anger. "I'll kill him."   
    "No!" Minako panicked, grabbing his arm. "Please! He didn't know! Please, darling, please! Don't harm him, he was my mentor, my guardian. He was like a father to me . . ."   
    Kunzite hushed her with a finger to her lips, eyes clearing in concern. "Okay, okay, go to sleep." He glanced over to make sure that the baby was still quiet.   
    She settled back down into his side, but was still worried.   
    He hadn't – quite – promised.   
    Minako yawned and decided to take his advice. She fell quickly asleep. 


	25. Birthday

"She's grown."   
    Minako heard the proud murmur just behind her left ear and turned from the sight of Psyche playing with the rocks she found. It was gray all around them, dark gray and silver, and Psyche skipped with the sticky sluggish movements known only in dreams. Her hair was long and light, blown about her as she twirled and hopped, smiling, not noticing the tall stranger her mother embraced.   
    "And getting more beautiful every day, my love," Minako replied.   
    The man sighed his satisfaction and watched the child play. Minako was used to this -- standing silently with him as he held her and watched their daughter frolicking. But, oddly, he broke this silence.   
    "Her sixth birthday is coming up."   
    "Yes," Minako drew back a little. He'd never observed any of Psyche's birthdays before. "I suppose so."   
    "I want to do something for her." His eyes were opaque with mysterious emotions and Minako could not decipher him.   
    "I'm sure she would like that," she said carefully.   
    "Good." He kissed her golden head and they continued to watch the little tow-haired girl play. 

"_Psyche_!" The yell rang out through the castle halls and servants flung themselves out of the way as a platinum-blonde bundle raced and giggled past them, followed by a severely irritated old woman. "Get back here and put your shoes on!" As if her words were not convincing enough, she waved two white satin kid slippers in one hand.   


    She followed the little girl into a royal sitting chamber where several men and women were talking. Psyche ran and threw herself into a dark-haired woman's lap, curling up as the lady wrapped her arms calmly about her. From her safe haven on the woman's crimson gown, she peered out and giggled at her nurse. The old woman looked a bit intimidated by the people in the room and very winded.   
    "Please sit and catch your breath." General Nephrite, in his simple brown silks, pulled a chair over for the old woman, who gratefully took it.   
    "Psyche," the woman holding her said, looking down into bright blue eyes and flushed cheeks, "go put your shoes on."   
    Psyche pouted beautifully. "But Auntie Rei!" The woman gave her a stern look and she slipped grudgingly off of her lap and trudged to the poor old nurse, so that she didn't see the shared smiles behind her.   
    Plopping down on the floor, she yanked her shoes on, having to get her nurse's help with the laces. She was still in a grump when her father came in and gave her a sharp, reprimanding look.   
    "You're going to get your dress dirty," he told her and she hopped right up. It was a new dress, all in filmy white, that her godmother, Serenity, had gotten her for her birthday.   
    Opening her eyes guilelessly, she smiled as a child who knows she is in trouble might smile, and threw herself at the tall man. "_Daddy!_ I'm sorry, Daddy, I love you!" His stern expression melted and he picked her up, giving her a piggy back ride to the other side of the room.   
    "Wrapped around her little finger," Makoto commented, watching them with a curious smile. Kunzite tried to throw her a disgusted look, but it didn't work very well with Psyche still hanging around his neck.   
    "When do I get my cake, Daddy?" Psyche asked as she was deposited on a chair.   
    "Later," he smiled at her and they rubbed noses. Makoto raised one eyebrow and smiled at the other two women, her point made.   
    "Kunzite, can I see you for a second?" a blonde woman poked her head in the doorway.   
    "_Mommy!_" the little girl flew out of the chair and leapt at her mother.   
    "Whoa! Watch it, baby," the woman laughed and set the little girl down. "Go with your nurse and have her fix your hair up for tonight, okay? Mommy has some things to do."   
    "Okay, Mommy," Psyche grinned and gave her mother a loud kiss.   
    "She's so cute," Makoto commented as the nurse shuffled out.   
    "The nurse or the girl?" Jadeite asked. Makoto only rolled her eyes at him.   
    "She has Kunzite completely whipped," Rei said.   
    "Oh, leave him alone," Minako laughed. "He can't _help_ being crazy about cute blondes. He married one, after all."   
    Kunzite tried to ignore all of this.   
    "We need help with the streamers and we'll be done. Come on," she grabbed his hand and dragged him away. He didn't protest, but he grimaced. The last few minutes had been the only reprieve he'd had all day from helping get ready for Psyche's sixth birthday party. Makoto had already made the cake and was exhausted from her efforts. Ami had printed up all of the invitations and helped Minako wrap all of Psyche's presents, since Minako was curiously inept at manipulating wrapping paper. Rei had ordered the servants about with the games and activities, and Serenity had spent the entire morning decorating for the party with Minako and Kunzite. 

The room was gold and silver, sparkling. Ever since Psyche had been born and Serenity named the godmother, the woman had doted unendingly on the child. And ever since Serenity had discovered she was with child, Endymion had doted on _her_ endlessly.   


    "Put those over there," Serenity pointed a servant. "No, no, twist them like this," she took the streamers and showed him, then tried to get up on the stool to hang them when he wouldn't get them high enough, but Endymion grabbed her and swung her down, giving her a short lecture about the delicacy of her condition. Serenity rolled her eyes, but allowed him to hang the streamers.   
    "Charming, aren't they?" Minako murmured as she scattered daisies on the tables. She smiled at the white and gold flowers.   
    "Yes," Kunzite hugged her from behind.   
    "Now they're too _high_!"   
    Minako glanced at her husband and they stifled their laughter.   
    Soon, Serenity was tired and Endymion was insisting that she go take a nap before the party. Minako agreed with him and let all of the servants go as well, leaving her and Kunzite alone to finish. She righted a daisy and felt hands slip to her waist, rubbing gently. Minako froze and flushed.   
    "You do know we're alone right now," Kunzite's warm breath hit her ear.   
    She turned her head. "You do know that door doesn't lock," she replied -- the irony of his spontaneity and her prudence not lost on her. It was usually the other way around.   
    "Ours does." He pulled lightly on her, toward the tall doors and their room.   
    "Minako." The couple stopped and turned, and Kunzite found himself looking down the length of a gleaming sword. The man on the other end had eyes as golden as Minako's head and short, faintly curling hair as pale as Kunzite's own. He looked . . . familiar, somehow. Kunzite tightened his grip on his wife. "Come here, Minako."   
    Kunzite drew a sharp, angry breath, but Minako was breaking from his hold and going to the other man. "Mina-chan," he hissed, careful of the sword point hovering in front of his neck. "Get out of here."   
    "Why?"   
    He chanced a look at her, surprised by her voice. The word had been low, breathless, sultry. And as he stared at her, she looked at the new man, her eyes dark with something she had only displayed when they were alone in their room. "Mina-chan?" he asked in the voice of a disoriented little boy. He was asking for an explanation, for her to reassure him, but she kept moving toward that other man, and then she was slipping her hands behind the man's head and she was kissing him. . . .   
    The sword-point fell as the man kissed her back, but Kunzite could not move anyway. When the couple parted, the stranger looked down into Minako's eyes and touched her cheek, just like Kunzite had done so many times.   
    Kunzite felt white-hot rage sweep through him on a wave of possessiveness. That was _his_ wife, _his_ cheek that . . . that _bastard_ was touching, kissing. "Get away from her," Kunzite growled, but neither paid any attention to him.   
    "Go get our daughter," the man murmured to Minako and she nodded, moving away and toward the door. Kunzite tried to grab at her, but the look she threw him was so cold and disgusted that his hand dropped immediately.   
    Soon, Minako was back, carrying Psyche toward the stranger. Kunzite moved to stop her, but found that sword at his throat again.   
    "Surely you wouldn't deprive me the right of seeing my child," the man said, and Kunzite glared at him, some pit in his stomach threatening to swallow him.   
    "She's mine and you know it," he growled, the pit throwing up disturbing thoughts of how Psyche could have gotten her hair from this man. Everything else was her mother: her eyes and her skin and her grace. Kunzite was dark, but this man was as golden as Minako – who was handing Psyche to the stranger and looking decidedly happy.   
    Psyche, though, did not. She seemed uncertain and looked at Kunzite with frightened blue eyes. "Daddy?"   
    Free from his odd paralysis, he saw Minako reaching for the man's proffered hand and grabbed her, yanking her back away from the sword and the man, who flickered out before Kunzite could do anything else – taking Psyche with him.   
    Minako went limp and Kunzite caught her, watching in confusion as her eyes opened and she blinked at him. She looked . . . as if she had just woken up.   
    "Kunzite?" He pulled her close and held her for a moment before calling a servant. Still holding his confused wife as if she might too be taken from him any moment, he ordered the young man to fetch the Sailor Senshi.   
    "What's wrong?" they asked as soon as they arrived.   
    "Psyche's gone," he said simply, not looking at anyone, and told them what happened. When he was finished, Minako had her head in her hands and the others looked ravaged – and furious.   
    "I'll do a fire reading." Mars whirled around and left as Mercury pulled out her hand-held computer and examined the area where the stranger had been.   
    "Minako," Jupiter knelt by the couple. "Did you know that man?"   
    Minako raised her head and her eyes were red, her skin blotchy, and her lips pale. "I don't remember what happened. I don't remember any of it." Her voice broke and she paused to regain her composure.   
    "It's okay," Jupiter soothed, putting a hand on Minako's head, and stood back up.   
    "Is this what he looked like?" Mercury asked Kunzite, showing him an image on her computer screen. He looked at the golden eyes and pale hair and nodded. Mercury showed the image to Minako. "Do you recognize this man?"   
    Minako frowned and stared. "He looks like Jezibiah, but . . ." she gasped and went white.   
    "What? What is it, Minako?" Jupiter was back down by her in an instant.   
    She spoke faintly, still staring. "It's Ace."   
    Jupiter frowned. None of them had ever seen Ace before. "I thought he was dead."   
    "No," she replied, "he escaped before anyone could catch him. I _thought_ he was dead. . . . They said he jumped off the high rocks by the palace and was washed away by the sea." She moaned and put her face in her hands. "He's not and it's my fault because now he has Psyche, he has my _baby_. . . ." She was rocking back and forth and Kunzite pulled her closer to himself, holding her tightly, securely.   
    "It'll be okay, Mina-chan, we'll get her back. I promise. The girls are working on it and I'm going to help and we'll get Psyche back soon."   
    Minako pushed from him a bit and stopped rocking. "You're not doing anything without me," she told him, stubborn.   
    Kunzite frowned. "Minako, I'm not going to worry about you, too. You'll stay here."   
    "Actually," Rei's voice came from the doorway, her dark eyes holding knowledge and secrets, "we can't get to him without her. She'll have to help us."   
    Kunzite shook his head, but Minako shushed him.   
    In only minutes, they were surrounded by candles and the curtains were drawn. Servants were informing the Prince and Princess, but they were not to be involved in the proceedings. Minako lay in the middle of the triangle her three friends made and Kunzite was outside of it, holding her hand. Minako met his eyes, before the chants of her friends washed through her and she fell into a deep slumber.   
    The soft, smooth floor of Minako's dream rose up before the Senshi, black and shining like glass. A soft, midnight backdrop lifted one single star to shine down upon the figures that the Senshi approached.   
    "I'll come back for you soon," the man was saying as the three women came up behind them. They would have hidden, but there was nowhere to hide on the wide, smooth surface.   
    "Why can't I go with you _now_?" the woman asked, her golden hair glinting in the faint starlight as her pale face turned up to the man's. Mercury pulled out her mini-computer and ran a scan on the pair.   
    The man hesitated and the woman glanced over his shoulder. His attention was drawn to the three Senshi, his face wrinkled into a scowl and he growled low in his throat, putting Minako behind him.   
    "Let our friend go and give back Psyche," Jupiter demanded, green eyes hard as ice chips. Her fists were clenched and she stood proud and strong, Mars close at her elbow, supporting her. When it came to children, Jupiter had the protective instincts of a mother bear.   
    The man laughed, tipping back his pale head. "No," he told them, then turned to Minako and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and walked away, sitting down where she was almost completely obscured by the gloom. "Now, let's talk like civil people." The man glanced about and smiled at them. "Why should I not have my wife and child?"   
    "Because you're evil," Jupiter snapped. "And they're not yours."   
    The man's smile widened and his eyes glinted. "How do you know? How do you know that Psyche isn't mine?"   
    Jupiter's sneer faltered as she took in his pale hair and golden eyes. The only thing Psyche seemed to have gotten from Kunzite was her hair . . . and this man had the same coloring. It could be . . . Jupiter shook herself and shushed her thoughts. This wasn't the time for doubts.   
    "If she is yours, you would be able to settle the matter honorably, in sunlight, instead of sneaking about the shadows like this," Mars put in.   
    "Perhaps I was just nervous," he smiled.   
    "Perhaps you're just a lying ass."   
    The man's eyes widened and he stared at Mars. Mercury took the moment to whisper something to Jupiter, and the tall woman nodded, the pair starting a spell.   
    "Supreme. . . ."   
    "Mercury. . . ."   
    "THUNDER!"   
    "BUBBLES!"   
    As Jupiter's lightning cut toward Ace and Mercury's bubbles clouded the area, Mercury dashed forward and Jupiter followed, grabbing Mars. In moments, they were surrounding Minako, grabbing onto her and pulling her away. The woman screamed, not seeming to recognize them, and struggled against them, her hair flying.   
    "Let go!"   
    "Will you cut it – OOMPH," Mars grunted, doubling over as Minako knocked the wind out of her.   
    "_Let her go!_" a man cried, fury lacing his voice, and Ace broke through the mist to claw at their hands, pushing them away from his beloved. "Get away–" His voice cut off abruptly and the women were sucked and shoved back into their own bodies in the ballroom.   
    Kunzite was immediately by Minako's side. "What happened?"   
    The blonde pushed herself up and looked around, dazed. "Um," she commented.   
    "It went fine," Rei told him, eyes narrowed in thought. Mercury was typing diligently away on her computer.   
    "I have a fix," she announced shortly thereafter.   
    Minako sighed and fell back, closing her eyes. "I'm sick of this," she moaned, tears squeezing out of her eyes, "and I want my _baby_!" She started crying and Kunzite held her, rocked her.   
    The other senshi looked at each other and got up in mute agreement, leaving the couple alone in a large room full of silver and gold decorations. 


	26. Posse

"What did you get?" Mars asked Mercury.   
    The latter typed on her computer and examined the findings. "Ace left traces of origin. If we put them together with the stronger traces I found in Minako's room, I'll be able to pinpoint his real location."   
    "And we can use teleportation?" Mars quirked an eyebrow.   
    "Yes."   
    Jupiter smiled – a particularly unfriendly look – and punched one fist into her other palm, "And then we can get rid of the lying jackass."   
    "Watch your language," someone ordered, and the three women turned. There stood Sailor Venus, proud and tall, her hair a mass of gold that seemed to reflect and create a shimmer about her – or maybe that was just the magic. Her feet were planted the width of her shoulders and her head was held high – regal.   
    Beautiful.   
    Behind her stood four men in full regalia, swords bared in hand.   
    "Let's get Psyche back," Mars agreed, a little breathless.   
    Shortly thereafter, all eight stood in the ballroom, summoning their powers and rushing to an unknown place. They arrived in a glossy black hall, lighted by dark candles on the walls. It was different from Minako's dream area, because there sound had been muffled and absorbed by the surroundings. Here things echoed and their shoes clicked as they moved toward a lighted double-door.   
    Inside the door was a high, dark room covered in soft animal skins and touched by the firelight in a great brick fireplace. A silvery-blonde child lay on her stomach on a bear rug in front of the hearth, looking through a picture-book. A man beside the child picked himself up and approached the group entering. He frowned darkly but didn't say anything.   
    "Give me Psyche," Venus stepped forward and demanded of the man. Kunzite put a hand on her left shoulder, uniting the two, but they were soon joined by the other six.   
    "We're not letting you face this alone," Mars murmured to Venus. Jadeite nodded silently, his hands slipping to Mars' waist.   
    The man was silent for a long moment before he spoke. "Look at that little girl," he murmured, gesturing to Psyche, the firelight dancing over her as she devoured her book. Her pale hair looked almost white in the dim light, though the fire brought out its golden undertones. "I'm not stealing her – I'm simply claiming what was always mine."   
    "She is not yours," Venus hissed, her calm breaking.   
    "How do you know?" He looked at her – infuriatingly rational.   
    "Because I never slept with you." She glared.   
    He simply smiled. "How do you know?" Venus was confused, still glaring. "I've visited you in your dreams every night for years now. How do you know that I didn't visit you when you were living in that little hovel of an earth town?" He glanced at Kunzite conspiratorially. "For that matter, how do we know that you didn't sleep with any of the men there? You're Venusian, after all, and it wouldn't be a crime. And there was that good-looking fellow that seemed so fond of you." Ace smiled wanly and looked at Kunzite. "Did you never consider that option? Or did you just take the little bitch's word for the truth?" Kunzite growled and shifted dangerously, but the man just glanced at Psyche again and suddenly his voice held such simple conviction that it left them all blinking in surprise. "No, I wouldn't if I were you."   
    Why hadn't they thought of this before? Minako runs away, sleeps with an earthling, has his child, blames it on Kunzite, and comes back to become leader again. Entirely irresponsible, if you thought about it.   
    "How could you do this to us, Minako?" Mercury was saying, tears running down her cheeks. "We trusted you."   
    "Ami," Venus replied, holding up her hands in a protective gesture. "I didn't–"   
    "Didn't what? Betray us? No, I think you've done enough of that already," Jupiter spat, disgust twisting her features.   
    Venus whirled, trying to find a friendly face, but everyone was looking at her with accusation – except that Kunzite wasn't looking at her at all. He had averted his face, as if ashamed of her. Venus touched his shoulders, scared. "Kunzite?"   
    "Don't talk to me," he snapped. "I think I've had enough of your treachery. All this time, and Psyche isn't even mine – I wish you had never come back. I can't believe I trusted you!"   
    "Kunzite," she whispered, eyes stricken. Then . . . her gaze slowly darkened and her brow furrowed. Looking at him strangely, she turned and faced Ace. "This is you."   
    "Why would you think that?" he asked, honestly confused.   
    Venus jumped at Ace, clawing at him with her nails and letting out a strangled cry of fury. "Give me my baby! Let us go! Let me go, let me go!" The last was in response to his harsh grip on her wrists. Tears were falling and she fell to her knees, head bent and wrists still in Ace's harsh, stunned grip. He stared at her for long moments as she sobbed, ignoring everyone else in the room but the golden creature at his feet, the beautiful woman that had once been his . . . Ace knelt and grasped her to him, his face in her hair and cheek against her wet one. She was soft and trembling from the emotion of her outburst.   
    "I loved you," he murmured into her hair, nothing in the room mattering but the two of them. Venus raised her tearstained face to his and looked into his gentle, sad eyes. "I've loved you since before you even knew me." Venus shook her head, but it didn't have the conviction of her earlier statements. "You betrayed me. How was I supposed to react? What was I supposed to think – feel?" "And you still believe that I betrayed you on purpose?" he gripped her arms and tears fell from his eyes. "I would kill myself before harming a hair on your head now." He touched her tenderly. "Please Minako, princess, darling, please come back to me." Venus looked at him, sad. "You're not the same man I knew. Even if you wouldn't harm me directly, you've hurt me terribly by putting my family through what you have." His voice raised to a hysterical pitch, "I _had_ to get you back, and I only did it the way I knew how! Please, darling, don't judge me by what I've done here – it's only for you – always for you. Everything I do is for you!" He was gripping her so hard that it hurt, and his eyes were frantic. "Ace," she began, but he stood up and backed away from her, wild with the fear of what he'd seen in her eyes. Pity. "_Please_, Minako!" His voice was painful to listen to. "_Please!_" He was gasping for breath, and as his eyes landed on Psyche, Venus knew what he was going to do. She let out an ear-piercing shriek as he lunged for her daughter, producing a knife from somewhere and holding it to the child's throat, who had not been paying attention before. Now she was. "Mommy!" Psyche cried, eyes wide and scared. "Daddy!" she gasped when the blade pressed close to her delicate skin. "You will be my wife, Minako, and we will be a family! We will be happy!" He was deranged with fear, hands shaking so badly that Venus had an entirely different worry for her daughter's safety than Ace's intentions of harm. "Okay!" she cried. "Just put Psyche down!" She heard a stirring behind her, but didn't look. The room around them flickered and Venus realized what was happening. Ace was so distraught that he was losing his hold on everything. "Please, Ace!" she stood, speaking calmly and loudly. She moved slowly toward him and his breathing seemed to even out the closer she came. "Please. You don't have to do this. I'm yours – just let my daughter go." It was insanity – it was a lie – but it was the only way she could think of to get her daughter to safety. And to save her daughter, Venus would sell her soul and body to the devil himself, if needed. She held out her hand and for a long moment he just looked at it. Then he slowly dropped a sobbing Psyche to the floor and drew Venus into his arms. She didn't realize the tears still trickling down her cheeks until Ace was kissing her.   
    And then he was ripped from her by an act of sheer violence. A heavy fist connected with his jaw and Ace found himself sprawled on the floor. Kunzite stood above him, free from the spell that had held them all, white fire in his eyes. He bit out, "You will not _touch_ my wife. You will _not touch_ my child. And I shall rip your heart out and stuff it into your mouth if you ever try to do so again."   
    Venus gazed up at him from the ground, nose red and eyes puffy. "Kunzite?" she breathed, uncertain. He looked down at her and bent to sweep her up into his arms, kiss her, and hand her to Jupiter. Venus noticed that Nephrite was holding Psyche. "I'll be along in a minute after I'm finished here," he told the others, cracking his knuckles.   
    "Kunzite," Venus protested softly, worried. What if he got hurt? Kunzite turned to look at her and in that moment, Ace surged up behind him.   
    But as he did, a lance of fire arrowed through Ace's midsection and his body locked up in pain, stopping mid-lunge to fall to his hands and knees, gasping in pain.   
    Mars had always been a good shot.   
    Blood splattered from his lips and he gripped the ragged wound in his stomach. Kunzite swirled and Nephrite hid Psyche's eyes as the man drew his sword.   
    In one swift, downward stroke, it was over. 


	27. Old Friends

Over the next few weeks, despite the fact that the threat was over, Minako could tell that Kunzite was still disturbed. It had taken a few days for all of them to calm down and, though Psyche seemed fine, she had been checked by both Sailor Mercury's computer and Princess Serenity's crystal. During this process, Endymion had been very distraught, worrying about how using the crystal might affect Serenity's pregnant state, but nothing seemed to have come of the action.   
    Minako knew that Kunzite was worried about who Psyche's father was. She could see it in his eyes when he took her outside and watched her play. She felt it in his tone when he spoke to the child, and read it in the lines creasing his brow. He smiled less, pondered more, and stared absently at Psyche, looking for clues.   
    Finally, she had had enough. In the deep of the night, when Kunzite was in a dead sleep, Minako slipped her robe on over her nightgown and went to the communications room. The message she sent to the moon was simple and direct. Ringing for one of the servants, she informed him to wait in the transportation room for the visitor which would appear sometime within the next day. She told him to take the visitor to a particular room and then inform her immediately and set up tea as the guest waited for Minako to appear.   
    The servant nodded and hurried off. Minako went back to bed with a lighter heart, glad that things were set well in motion.   
    "Where were you?" Kunzite murmured as she slipped back into bed, not bothering to move or open his eyes.   
    Minako flushed and whispered, "I needed a glass of water."   
    "Mm," he grunted, reaching out to pull her close and tuck her head under his chin. "Love you," he breathed.   
    "I love you too," she whispered, but he was already asleep. 

In the morning, the servant came to get Minako. "Your visitor is here, m'lady," he said.   


    "Thank you," she replied and watched him leave before she began to get dressed. Kunzite was already gone out horse-riding with Zoicite and the Prince, so he wasn't there to distract her.   
    Soon, she stepped into the yellow parlor and sat down at a round table of birch wood draped in a fine silk tablecloth.   
    The man across from her put down his tea and stood to bow. "Princess," he greeted respectfully.   
    "Artemis," she replied, allowing the servant to pour her a cup of tea, then dismissing him. She wanted to talk to Artemis alone.   
    "You wished my attendance, your majesty?" He was being careful, she noted. Not looking her in the eye. It was a wonder how much he had aged! He was beginning to wrinkle. . . . Minako had never imagined that he _could_ wrinkle.   
    "Yes," she replied, sipping her tea and putting it down to fold her hands in her lap. "Before a few months ago, I had no doubt who the father of my child was. Unfortunately, there were recent circumstances that have shaken my husbands belief in his own sireship of my daughter, and I wish you to help us solve this problem."   
    Artemis was quiet for a long time before he spoke. "I would do anything to aide your majesty in anything she desires. But . . . I do wonder if there is more that your grace wishes of me."   
    It was Minako's turn to pause. "I admit that I would like to clear the air between us."   
    Artemis nodded and gave an almost-smile. "Then it shall be done." 

It seemed that Artemis was married to Luna, who had helped the Queen nurse him back to full mental health with the help of the Silver Imperium Crystal. During that time, he had fallen in love with Luna, her gentleness and wisdom, and the support she gave him to deal with his terrible guilt. They were, at that very moment, with child. 


	28. Martian Interlude

Kunzite was playing in the garden with Pysche. The light was waning as evening approached, and the pond glinted behind the child and rippled in the soft wind.   
    Tendrils of black hair were blown into his peripheral vision and Kunzite turned, looking straight at Rei. She stood there and gazed at him in silence, hands cupping her elbows as if she were cold.   
    "What?" he asked. He kept his voice low enough that Psyche didn't hear.   
    She unfolded her arms and beckoned to him. He walked toward her, glancing back at Psyche to make sure she would be okay by herself.   
    "What do you want?" He didn't mean to sound rude, but he wasn't in the mood to chat.   
    "You have to stop this," she murmured, gazing at the tow-haired child playing by the water. Kunzite frowned. "You're hurting her. And you're hurting Minako."   
    Kunzite was annoyed. "What do you know of it? It's not like you even have a child. How could you understand?"   
    "I grew up with Minako. She doesn't deserve this – and neither does her child." She paused, but began again before Kunzite could jump in. "Kunzite, does it really matter whose child Psyche is?" She faced him and looked at him steadily. "If she weren't yours – if she were Ace's, or that other fellow's – would you turn her out on the street for it? Either of them? Would you stop loving them? Would you stop loving the girl you've come to know as your daughter?"   
    Kunzite exploded. "_Stop it!_ Leave me alone! You don't know _anything_ about me or my life! You don't know how I feel right now!"   
    "I don't have to," Rei whirled on him, eyes flashing. "I'm psychic, remember?! I've seen the future if you keep going like this – you're going to push _everyone_ away – you're going to estrange the people you love most, you're going to be old and alone–"   
    Kunzite hit her and clutched at his head. "_Shut up!_" he yelled. "_Shut up!_" Rei recoiled and grabbed her cheek, which was turning red, but was struck silent when she saw the tears on Kunzite's face. "You don't know anything," he repeated, voice soft and intense, tears still running down his cheeks. "You can't even accept your feelings for Jadeite–"   
    Rei's eyes flashed, "Don't talk to me about Jadeite–"   
    "–who are _you_ to tell me what to do, how to feel?!" he continued, ignoring her rage. "I _love_ that little girl, and no one is ever going to take her from me." He paused to rub at his eyes and didn't look at Rei again. She stood silently, angrily, watching him. "No one can – except her mother."   
    Rei watched him for a long while after he was finished. After he looked at her again, she gave him one last, enigmatic look, and started walking back to the castle.   
    "Daddy?" he felt a tug on his pants when the evening was well into its twilight. Psyche spoke softly, as if uncertain of her father's reaction.   
    Kunzite sighed and picked her up, hugging her to him. He buried his face in her small shoulder and held her tight, as if someone were trying to take her away right then.   
    "I'm sorry, honey," he murmured to her when he had control of his voice. "I didn't mean to scare you – I'm not mad." He let her down and held her hand as they walked toward the castle. Psyche still acted nervous, as if her father's anger would swoop down on her head if she did anything wrong. "Honey," he said as they got nearer the castle, "you know that I love you no matter what, right?"   
    Psyche looked up at him and, eager to please, replied, "Of course I do, daddy."   
    Kunzite smiled and picked her up for another hug, swinging her onto his back and trotting her into the castle, grinning at her laughter. 

Rei walked through the castle, trying to calm down. It wouldn't do to fume over hasty words.   


    So why were her eyes wet?   
    Rei sighed in frustration as two tears overflowed. She wiped them from her cheeks and rounded a corner.   
    And ran into someone.   
    "Rei!" Jadeite seemed surprised to see her, but not unhappy.   
    "Oh," she murmured. "Sorry."   
    Jadeite looked at her and lost his pleasure. "What's wrong?"   
    "It . . ." she murmured, avoiding his eyes. "Nothing."   
    "Rei," he whispered, holding firmly to her shoulders. "Rei, what's wrong? Please tell me. Please."   
    She sniffled, feeling the tears well up again, and clung to Jadeite's chest, taking comfort from him as she cried.   
    _I'm crying about you,_ she thought. _How can I tell you that I'm crying about you – about your sweetness and kindness and how much I . . . how much I care. . . ._   
    "Rei, Rei," he whispered to her hair, holding her and rocking slightly. She just held on and cried, held on to his warmth.   
    And then his lips found hers and they were kissing each other – Rei responding almost desperately, her cheeks still wet. 


	29. Epilogue

Minako and that bastard came into the playroom, where Kunzite was watching Psyche play. He was amazed to see them together and did not hide the feeling as they approached. He looked at his wife questioningly and acquiesced only when pressed upon to shake Artemis' hand.   
    He nearly growled and jerked the man away when he presumed to start a patty-cake game with Psyche, but subsided to his wife's calming hand on his arm. She watched the game curiously, the area around her mouth a little tense, her eyes strained as if waiting for some imperial judgement.   
    Kunzite wanted to ask what was wrong, but he didn't have a chance. Artemis stood up, patted Psyche on the head, gave her a cookie, and told her to go to the kitchen to get some milk for it, which she did with a cursory glance at her mother. Then he turned to the anxious Minako.   
    "She is your daughter in every sense of the word. Both of yours," he nodded at Kunzite and turned back to Minako, stepping forward to take her hands. "And I am very happy to be able to say so." He smiled. He was glad to be of use to his precious Mina-chan again, even if they would never be as close as they once were.   
    "What?" Kunzite was baffled.   
    Minako turned to him, her happy face tipping up to his. "People from Mau have some basic animalistic instincts – and one is being to be able to tell by touch and smell if two people are related by blood."   
    "So . . ." Kunzite looked half skeptical, half joyful.   
    "What is it?" Minako tugged at his sleeve, frowning.   
    Kunzite looked down at her and his troubled gaze intensified. "How do we know he's telling the truth?"   
    Artemis looked as if he was about to get affronted, but seemed to drop the thought and sighed instead.   
    Minako paused. "We can ask Serenity if her crystal will check his truthfulness." Kunzite looked more content with this, but Minako grabbed his arm and squeezed hard, her gaze steeling. "But after we do this, you have to promise me not to question Psyche's parentage again. You have to _promise_ me, Kunzite, because I can't stand having you look at me like I betrayed you." Tears were in her eyes and her lips were trembling.   
    Kunzite kissed those trembling lips once, gently, brushing his thumbs across her cheeks to wipe the spilt tears away. "I promise," he whispered, and meant it.   
    So to Serenity they went, and her crystal was held in full view. She chanted a few words over the stone, closed her eyes, and concentrated. When her eyes opened again, Serenity supported Artemis's trustworthiness in this matter.   
    Minako smiled and looked up at Kunzite, his eyes looking blankly back at her. And then . . . a transformation took place. Minako watched as the skepticism, bitterness, and pain drained out of her husband's eyes. And all that was left . . . was his love.   
    Minako was distracted from him as Serenity groaned and leaned against Endymion, putting a hand to her head.   
    "Serenity?" Minako asked, worried. Serenity groaned again and clutched her heavy stomach. Endymion looked at her in panic, holding her firmly.   
    "Owww," she moaned. "The baby . . ."   
    Endymion took charge and started ordering people about, sending servants here and there.   
    Minako dashed out to get the midwife, Kunzite heading to tell Sailor Mercury. On her way, Minako passed a startled Rei and Jadeite, gasping out a quick explanation before running on.   
    She didn't notice the ring on Rei's finger.   
    In the rush and haste, all Minako really had time to think of was the baby . . . and underlying that was how much she loved her husband – and how good it was to have him back. Truly, honestly back.   
    Minako smiled to herself and ran faster. 

End 


	30. Bloopers and Outtakes

**Bloopers and Outakes**

Today we present to you the ever-enjoyable bloopers and outtakes from _A Study of Venus: Silver Millennium_. I decided without telling anyone that I would put these up as a treat as soon as I got 100 reviews -- and since it just hit the 100 mark, here we go!

And, yes, _A Study of Venus: Crystal Tokyo_ will also have bloopers and outtakes -- I'll decide when to put those up when it becomes pertinent.

**

* * *

**

**The Healing Process:**

"What--" she exclaimed, startled, as he pushed through the door and took her inside. "What are you doing?!" She clung to his neck and stared at the warm water, supplied earlier by a few castle attendants.

"Getting you in the water, what do you think?" he replied, setting her on a bench and working at the double-knotted bow keeping her night-dress closed in back. "Then I'm going to leave and fetch Miss Bunny to help you out again." He seemed to recognize her distress, as he added, "Don't worry."

"Don't worry," she repeated and rolled her eyes, flushing hotly in embarrassment as her dress suddenly fell from her shoulders.

"Minako?!" Kunzite sounded like he was choking. He'd gone a deep red.

There was a pause as she frowned and looked at him oddly. "That's not your line."

Artemis peeked in the open door.

"Mina-chan?" he pushed his head in farther and stared, then darted back out with his face burning red. "I'm _blind_!" she heard him cry.

"What?!" she exclaimed, very embarrassed. They just kept staring at her! Even the crewmen were looking flabbergasted. "Hentai," she murmured.

"Minako," came the director's tired voice as Kunzite came to his senses and wrapped her back up. "You're supposed to be wearing a strapless swimsuit -- we were just going to do head and shoulder shots to make people _think_ you were naked."

Minako blinked. "Oh."

"Cut."

* * *

**Vision and Preparation:**

"I hope you have good reason to be in the Senshi Hall," Uranus demanded, arms folded, "because I was having a _very_ good dream." He noted that Neptune was also there, standing behind her taller partner in a modest teal terrycloth robe.

"I was . . . what are you wearing?" He was looking Uranus up and down.

She glanced down at herself, then gave him a dangerous look. "Shiny 'Kiss Me' boxers. Got a problem with that?"

He held up his hands and backed off. "No, no . . ."

She glared at him as he scurried away and felt Neptune come up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and putting her chin on the taller woman's shoulder. "I don't think he liked my Christmas present to you."

Uranus snorted in reply.

"Come on," Neptune smiled. "You can sleep in my room tonight -- and tell me about that dream you were having."

A smile grew on Uranus' face and she followed the other woman away.

"Um . . . guys? We're still filming . . . we sort of need to do that scene over . . . Oh, forget it, they're gone. That's a wrap for tonight, everybody!"

**

* * *

**

**Festival:**

"Jezibiah!" Minako gasped, her eyes brightening as she grabbed the young man's arm. "Look!" she cried breathlessly, and he looked.

And was confused. "Mechanical claw?" he asked. "Does that even exist in this time period?"

But she was busy maneuvering the joysticks with her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth.

"Minako?" he broached, but she was too engrossed.

"Wai!" she cheered and leaned down to pull something from the drop-bin. "Look what I won!"

He sighed as she beamed over a plushie Tuxedo Mask doll.

"Cut!"

**

* * *

****Kunzite:**

"What kind of girl do you think Minako is?"

Jezibiah took it as a challenge. "A sweet girl. Kind and caring, full of life and joy and . . . and . . . sadness."

Kunzite stared at him until Jezibiah's gaze faltered, then turned and opened the doors. "Come."

Jezibiah looked up and followed him through into a great room, over to the side where Kunzite worked a few glittering controls, then turned to look at Jezibiah. "Yes, but only partly. Minako is a warrior and a leader. She has responsibilities and honor and pride – like me. And that's why I fell in love with her." He turned to face the center of the room and pressed his hand to the panel. An image flickered up . . .

"What the hell?" Kunzite said, hearing the Windows startup theme and watching a blue icon the size of a house fill the room. He looked around – Jezibiah was laughing. "Who was supposed prep the computer?"

"Cut! Somebody go find Zoicite!"

* * *

**Epilogue:**

Minako was distracted from him as Serenity groaned and leaned against Endymion, putting a hand to her head.

"Serenity?" Minako asked, worried. Serenity groaned again and clutched her heavy stomach. Endymion looked at her in panic, holding her firmly.

"Owww," she moaned. "The baby . . ."

Endymion took charge and started ordering people about, sending servants here and there.

Minako dashed out to get the midwife, Kunzite heading to tell Sailor Mercury. On her way, Minako started to pass a startled Rei and Jadeite, and gasp out a quick explanation, but she slipped on a wet patch of floor and bowled straight over the couple, making them all crumple into an ungainly pile of limbs. When she had enough presence to raise her head, she saw the stomach-heavy Serenity waddle past them, muttering about how she could get to the midwife faster than they could. Endymion still fluttered around her, begging her not to move or exert herself, but she had a contraction and started cursing him with fluidity: "If we don't do this stupid $&#& scene over again RIGHT NOW I'm going to rip your $&#& head off, yooooOOOU DID THIS TO ME YOU BASTARD!!!"

"Cut! Somebody go get a doctor! Minako, Rei, and Jadeite, get someone to clean up that water and do your part again. No, Serenity, you were perfect! You don't have to do anything else. Yes, you're done. Go lie down, that's a girl."


End file.
